Antibody producing non-human animals

ABSTRACT

Described are transgenic, non-human animals comprising a nucleic acid encoding an immunoglobulin light chain, whereby the immunoglobulin light chain is human, human-like, or humanized. The nucleic acid is provided with a means that renders it resistant to DNA rearrangements and/or somatic hypermutations. In one embodiment, the nucleic acid comprises an expression cassette for the expression of a desired molecule in cells during a certain stage of development in cells developing into mature B cells. Further provided is methods for producing an immunoglobulin from the transgenic, non-human animal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/589,181, filed Oct. 19, 2009, pending, which application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/459,285, filed Jun. 29, 2009, abandoned, which applications claim the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/133,274, filed Jun. 27, 2008, for “Antibody Producing Non-Human Mammals,” the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by this reference.

STATEMENT ACCORDING TO 37 C.F.R. § 1.821(c) or (e)—SEQUENCE LISTING SUBMITTED AS ASCII TEXT FILE

Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.821(c) or (e), files containing a TXT version and a PDF version of the Sequence Listing have been submitted concomitant with this application, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the production and use of non-human animals capable of producing antibodies or derivatives thereof, which are expressed from at least partially exogenous nucleic acids (transgenes). Transgenes to produce such transgenic animals and methods to produce such heterologous antibodies; methods and vectors for producing such transgenic animals are disclosed.

BACKGROUND

B cells mediate humoral immunity by producing specific antibodies. The basic structural subunit of an antibody (Ab) is an immunoglobulin (Ig) molecule. Ig molecules consist of a complex of two identical heavy (H) and two identical light (L) polypeptide chains. At the amino terminus of each H chain and L chain is a region that varies in amino acid sequence named the variable (V) region. The remaining portion of the H and L chains is relatively constant in amino acid sequence and is named the constant (C) region. In an Ig molecule, the H and L chain V regions (VH and VL) are juxtaposed to form the potential antigen-binding site. The genes that encode H and L chain V regions are assembled somatically from segments of germline DNA during precursor B (pre-B) cell differentiation: V, D and J gene segments for the H chain and V and J gene segments for the L chain. Within Ig V regions are three regions of greatest amino acid sequence variability that interact to form the antigen-recognition site and are thus referred to as complementarity determining regions (CDRs).

The V gene segment encodes the bulk of the V region domain, including CDR1 and CDR2. Diversity in CDR1 and CDR2 derives from sequence heterogeneity among multiple different germline-encoded V segments. CDR3 is encoded by sequences that are formed by the joining of H chain V, D, and J gene segments and L chain V and J segments and by mechanisms that create nucleotide sequence heterogeneity where these segments are combined. Additional diversity may be derived from pairing of different H and L chain V regions. Collectively these processes yield a primary repertoire of antibodies encoded by germline gene segments and expressed by newly formed B cells.

An additional source of antibody diversity is imposed on top of the diversity generated by recombination of Ig gene segments. B cells are able to introduce mutations into the antibody V regions that they express, a process called somatic hypermutation. Thus, when an animal first encounters an antigen, the antigen binds to a specific B cell which happens to carry antibodies which have a V domain which binds the antigen. This primary response may activate this B cell to go on to secrete the cognate antibody. These activated B cells can also now target a somatic mutation process to their rearranged antibody gene segments and thus allow the production of daughter cells which make variants of the antibodies of the primary response. A selection process amplifies those variant B cell descendants which make an antibody of improved affinity of the antigen. In B cells, somatic hypermutations are targeted to a restricted genomic region including both the rearranged VH and VL genes. Thus somatic mutation allows affinity maturation—the production and selection of high affinity antibodies. Therefore, somatic mutation is important for the generation of high affinity antibodies.

The exquisite specificity and high affinity of antibodies and the discovery of hybridoma technology allowing the generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has generated great expectations for their utilization as targeted therapeutics for human diseases. MAbs are identical because they are produced by a single B cell and its progeny. MAbs are made by fusing the spleen cells from a mouse that has been immunized with the desired antigen with myeloma cells to generate immortalized hybridomas. One of the major impediments facing the development of in vivo applications for mAbs in humans is the intrinsic immunogenicity of non-human Igs. Patients respond to therapeutic doses of mouse mAbs by making antibodies against the mouse Ig sequences (Human Anti Mouse Antibodies; HAMA), causing acute toxicity, alter their biodistribution and accelerate clearance, thus reducing the efficacy of subsequent administrations (Mirick et al. (2004), Q. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 48:251-257).

To circumvent the generation of HAMA, antibody humanization methods have been developed in an attempt to produce mAbs with decreased immunogenicity when applied to humans. These endeavors have yielded various recombinant DNA-based approaches aimed at increasing the content of human amino acid sequences in mAbs while retaining the specificity and affinity of the parental non-human antibody. Humanization began with the construction of mouse-human chimeric mAbs (S. L. Morrison et al. (1984), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:6851-5), in which the Ig C regions in murine mAbs were replaced by human C regions. Chimeric mAbs contain 60-70% of human amino acid sequences and are considerably less immunogenic than their murine counterparts when injected into humans, albeit that a human anti-chimeric antibody response was still observed (W. Y. Hwang et al. (2005), Methods 36:3-10).

In attempts to further humanize murine mAbs, CDR grafting was developed. In CDR grafting, murine antibodies are humanized by grafting their CDRs onto the VL and VH frameworks of human Ig molecules, while retaining those murine framework residues deemed essential for specificity and affinity (P. T. Jones et al. (1986), Nature 321:522). Overall, CDR-grafted antibodies consist of more than 80% human amino acid sequences (C. Queen et al. (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86:10029; P. Carter et al. (1992), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89:4285). Despite these efforts, CDR-grafted, humanized antibodies were shown to still evoke an antibody response against the grafted V region (W. Y. Hwang et al. (2005), Methods 36:3).

Subsequently to CDR grafting, humanization methods based on different paradigms such as resurfacing (E. A. Padlan et al. (1991), Mol. Immunol. 28:489), superhumanization (P. Tan D. A. et al. (2002), J. Immunol. 169:1119), human string content optimization (G. A. Lazar et al. (2007), Mol. Immunol. 44:1986) and humaneering have been developed in an attempt to further decrease the content of non-human sequences in therapeutic mAbs (J. C. Almagro et al. (2008), Frontiers in Bioscience 13:1619). As in CDR grafting approaches, these methods rely on analyses of the antibody structure and sequence comparison of the non-human and human mAbs in order to evaluate the impact of the humanization process into immunogenicity of the final product. When comparing the immunogenicity of chimeric and humanized antibodies, humanization of variable regions appears to decrease immunogenicity further (W. Y. Hwang et al. (2005), Methods 36:3-10).

De-immunization is another approach developed to reduce the immunogenicity of chimeric or mouse antibodies. It involves the identification of linear T-cell epitopes in the antibody of interest, using bioinformatics, and their subsequent replacement by site-directed mutagenesis to human or non-immunogenic sequences (WO 9852976 A1, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference). Although de-immunized antibodies exhibited reduced immunogenicity in primates, compared with their chimeric counterparts, some loss of binding affinity was observed (M. Jain et al. (2007), Trends in Biotechnol. 25:307).

The development of phage display technology complemented and extended humanization approaches in attempts to obtain less immunogenic mAbs for therapy in humans. In phage display, large collections (“libraries”) of human antibody VH and VL regions are expressed on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage particles. From these libraries, rare phages are selected through binding interaction with antigen; soluble antibody fragments are expressed from infected bacteria and the affinity of binding of selected antibodies is improved by mutation (G. Winter et al. (1994), Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12:433). The process mimics immune selection, and antibodies with many different bindings specificities have been isolated using this approach (H. R. Hoogenboom et al. (2005), Nat. Biotechnol. 23:1105). Various sources of H and L chain V regions have been used to construct phage display libraries including those isolated from non-immune or immune donors. In addition, phage display libraries have been constructed of V regions that contain artificially randomized synthetic CDR regions in order to create additional diversity. Often, antibodies obtained from phage display libraries are subjected to in vitro affinity maturation to obtain high affinity antibodies (H. R. Hoogenboom et al. (2005), Nat. Biotechnol. 23:1105).

The creation of transgenic mouse strains producing human antibodies in the absence of mouse antibodies has provided another technology platform for the generation of specific and high affinity human mAbs for application in humans. In these transgenic animals, the endogenous mouse antibody machinery is inactivated and replaced by human Ig loci to substantially reproduce the human humoral immune system in mice (A. Jakobovits et al. (2007), Nat. Biotechnol. 25:1134; N. Lonberg (2005), Nat. Biotechnol. 23:1117). B cell development as well as Ig diversification by recombination of gene segments is faithfully reproduced in these mice, leading to a diverse repertoire of murine B cells expressing human Igs. By immunizing these mice with antigens, it was further demonstrated that these transgenic animals accumulated somatic mutations in the V regions of both heavy and light chains to produce a wide diversity of high-affinity human mAbs (N. Lonberg (2005), Nat. Biotechnol. 23:1117).

The question, whether “fully human” mAbs such as derived from phage display libraries or transgenic mice are less immunogenic than humanized mAbs cannot be answered yet, because full immunogenicity data are available for just two human mAbs. An anti-tumor necrosis factor mAb, developed from phage-displayed human libraries induced antibody responses in 12% of patients—at the higher end of the incidence of anti-antibody responses of the humanized antibodies (W. Y. Hwang et al. (2005), Methods 36:3-10).

Evaluation of the immunogenicity of the first registered human mAb generated by the transgenic approach demonstrated that mAb treatment resulted in the generation of antibodies in approximately 5.5% of treated cancer patients (A. Jakobovits et al. (2007), Nat. Biotechnol. 25:1134; J. A. Lofgren et al. (2007), J. Immunol. 178:7467).

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed are a method and means for producing antibodies that are specific for their targets, but are less immunogenic. Described herein, the reduction of immunogenicity is at least partially achieved by providing a transgenic non-human mammal comprising, at least in its B cell lineage, a nucleic acid encoding at least an immunoglobulin light chain or heavy chain, wherein the heavy- or light chain encoding sequence is provided with a means that renders it resistant to DNA rearrangements and/or somatic hypermutations, preferably such a non-human animal is a rodent, more specifically a mouse. In certain embodiments, the nucleic acid encodes a human, human-like, or humanized immunoglobulin chain.

In the remainder of this specification, mice are typically used as examples of the non-human mammals. The transgenic, non-human, mammalian hosts are capable of mounting an immune response to an antigen, where the response produces antibodies having primate, particularly human, variable regions. Various transgenic hosts may be employed, particularly murine, lagomorpha, ovine, avine, porcine, equine, canine, feline, or the like. Mice have been used for the production of B-lymphocytes for immortalization for the production of antibodies. Since mice are easy to handle, can be bred in large numbers, and are known to have an extensive immune repertoire, mice will usually be the animal of choice. Therefore, in the following discussion, the discussion will refer to mice, but it should be understood that other animals, particularly non-primate mammals, may be readily substituted for the mice, following the same procedures.

The reason for preventing rearrangements and hypermutation is that in this manner a non-immunogenic polypeptide can be chosen beforehand knowing that this polypeptide chain will remain non-immunogenic. At least one of the chains of the resulting immunoglobulin is thus less immunogenic. The resulting antibody needs to have (usually) both a light- and a heavy chain. The non-immunogenic chain must therefore be capable of pairing with the other chain. The other chain may be an endogenous chain, an exogenous chain or a hybrid of both. For human therapy, the non-immunogenic chain should be as close to human as possible.

A means for rendering a gene encoding an immunoglobulin chain (or chains) resistant to DNA rearrangement and/or mutation is of course removal of all genetic elements responsible for the rearrangement and/or mutation. The drawback thereof is that the variability of the two chains is eliminated, whereas the invention preferably retains the variability in one chain (preferably the heavy chain) and inhibits and/or prevents the rearrangement-mutation of the other chain (preferably the light chain).

The elements for rearrangement and/or hypermutation characterized so far are located within the loci for immunoglobulins. Therefore the means for rendering the immunoglobulin encoding sequence resistant to DNA rearrangement and/or mutation is inserting the gene in a locus outside the immunoglobulin loci.

Thus, described herein, a transgenic non-human mammal is provided wherein the light/heavy chain encoding sequence is integrated in the genome of the non-human mammal in a locus outside the immunoglobulin loci. Preferably the insertion is in a locus that is resistant to gene silencing. Described herein, the integration is in the Rosa-locus or a comparable locus.

In certain embodiments, provided is an expression cassette that can be inserted into a Rosa locus or comparable locus with a means that allows expression of the immunoglobulin chain(s) essentially limited to cells of B cell lineage, preferably with a means that allows expression of the light chain encoding nucleic acid during a certain stage of the development of B cells. The term “essentially limited expression” indicates that expression is predominantly in cells of the B-cell lineage, but that lower levels of expression in other cells, as compared to the level of expression in B-cells, is possible. In certain embodiments, the term “essentially limited expression” indicates that the expression is exclusively present in cells of the B-cell lineage. Such means typically and preferably include B cell (developmental stage) specific promoters such as CD19, CD20, μHC (all V-genes), VpreB1, VpreB2, VpreB3, λ5, Igα, Igβ, κLC (all genes), λLC (all genes), BSAP (Pax5). Although it is very well possible to direct the expression of the DNA rearrangement and/or mutation resistant chain by such promoters, they are relatively weak. A strong promoter will typically be required to ensure adequate surface expression of the B cell receptor (made up of the membrane attached Ig H and L chain) and to compete with the expression and pairing of endogenous chains (if present) through allelic exclusion. Such a promoter, however is usually not tissue specific. To confer tissue specificity, an indirect system employing Cre/lox or the like is preferred. The desired chain is put under control of a strong promoter inhibited by an element that can be removed by the action of a Cre-protein, leading to activation of the desired immunoglobulin encoding gene. This system is described in detail in F. T. Wunderlich (2004), “Generation of inducible Cre systems for conditional gene inactivation in mice,” Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln; on the internet at deposit. ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=97557230x&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filename=975572 30x. pdf.

Preferably the immunoglobulin chain produced in a manner resistant to rearrangements and hypermutation is a light chain capable of pairing with different heavy chains encoded by the non-human mammal. The light chain will then be the same (and less immunogenic) in all antibodies, but variety in specificity is retained through rearrangements and hypermutations in the heavy chains. It may in that case be preferable to silence at least one of the endogenous loci encoding a light chain, although allelic exclusion may render this unnecessary.

According to this embodiment, preferably the endogenous kappa (κ) light chain locus is functionally silenced.

If the endogenous κ light chain locus is silenced, but also for other reasons, it is preferred that the resistant light chain is a κ light chain, preferably a light chain that has a germline-like sequence. Described herein such a light chain would lead to an antibody with reduced immunogenicity. The preferred germline sequence is based on the human IGKV1-39 (O12) as this light chain is very frequently observed in the human repertoire (de Wildt et al. 1999, J Mol. Biol. 285(3):895 and has superior thermodynamic stability, yield and solubility (Ewert et al. 2003, J. Mol. Biol. 325(3):531).

The following gives more specific embodiments of the expression cassette with which the non-human animal can be provided described herein. Although this is typically advantageous for immunoglobulins, other genes of interest are also contemplated.

Thus, provided in a specific embodiment is a transgenic non-human mammal wherein the light chain encoding nucleic acid comprises in 5′-3′ direction: a B cell specific promoter, a leader, a rearranged human V gene, optionally a mouse κ-intron enhancer (MoEκi), a constant region (κ) and optionally a (truncated) mouse κ-3′ enhancer (MoEκ3′). Neuberger identified and examined a novel B-cell specific enhancer located downstream of the kappa constant region (Neuberger, EP 00469025 B 1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference). This enhancer has been shown to play a crucial role in the expression of kappa genes as removal of the 808 bp enhancer strongly reduced expression. Deletion of the 3′ kappa enhancer also strongly reduced the level of somatic hypermutations (SHM). In transgenic and cell expression studies. it has been revealed that reduced, mutated or deleted 3′ kappa enhancers not only lowered expression levels but also decreased the level of somatic hypermutations. Currently, it cannot be determined whether the 3′ kappa enhancer is involved in SHM processes, expression regulation or both (review V. H. Odegard et al. (2006), Nat. Rev. Immunol. 6:573; M. Inlay et al. (2002), Nat. Immunol. 3:463).

Detailed expression studies using engineered variants of the 3′ kappa enhancer indicated that a 50 nucleotide region is sufficient to drive expression. However for proper expression a reduced sequence of 145 nucleotides is preferred (EP04690251; K. B. Meyer et al. (1990), Nucleic Acids Res. 18(19):5609-15).

Thus, the invention in one aspect provides a nucleic acid for insertion into the genome of a non human animal that is an expression cassette for the expression of a desired proteinaceous molecule in cells developing into mature B cells during a certain stage of development, the cassette comprising means for preventing silencing of expression of the desired proteinaceous molecule after introduction into a host cell, and means for timing expression of the desired proteinaceous molecule with the desired developmental stage of the host cell.

An expression cassette is defined as a nucleic acid that has been provided with means for introduction into the genome of a host cell, such as sequences which allow for homologous recombination with a certain site in the genome. Usually the nucleic acid will be DNA, typically double stranded. Typically the expression cassette will be provided to the cell in a vector from which it is transferred to the genome of the cell. The expression cassette further comprises all elements necessary for expression of the gene in a host cell, although in certain embodiments some of such elements may be present on a second nucleic acid to be introduced, whereby these elements act in trans. Elements necessary for expression in a host cell include promoters, enhancers and other regulatory elements. Only those elements are necessary that are not provided by the host cell.

The expression of the gene of interest should not be silenced in the genome of the host cell, especially not in the development stage where expression is required. This can be done by various means, such as insertion into the endogenous locus or by providing the cassette with nucleic acid elements that prevent silencing (Kwaks et al. (2006), Trends Biotechnol. 24(3):137-142, which is incorporated herein by reference). It is preferred that the expression cassette is inserted in a locus that is not silenced in the host cells (EP 01439234; which is incorporated herein by reference).

The means for prevention of silencing comprise STabilizing Anti-Repression-sequences (STAR®-sequences) and Matrix Attachment Regions (MARs). A STAR sequence is a nucleic acid sequence that comprises a capacity to influence transcription of genes in cis. Typically, although not necessarily, a STAR sequence does not code by itself for a functional protein element. In one embodiment one STAR element is used. Preferably, however, more than one STAR element is used. In a particularly preferred embodiment an expression cassette described herein is provided with two STAR sequences; one STAR sequence at the 5′ side of the coding sequence of the immunoglobulin gene and one STAR sequence at the 3′ side of the coding sequence of the immunoglobulin gene. MARs are DNA sequences that are involved in anchoring DNA/chromatin to the nuclear matrix and they have been described in both mammalian and plant species. MARs possess a number of features that facilitate the opening and maintenance of euchromatin. MARs can increase transgene expression and limit position-effects.

Expression from the cassette should only occur during a certain period in the development of a cell, in particular a developing B cell, more in particular a B cell in a transgenic non-human animal, in particular a mouse. In this particular case the developmental period is chosen such that the expression of the gene from the cassette (typically a light- or heavy chain-like polypeptide) does not significantly interfere with the normal differentiation and/or maturation of the cell and when applicable, allows for pairing of the polypeptide chain produced with its counterpart.

This may, in one embodiment, be achieved by providing a nucleic acid described herein, wherein the means for timing expression is a promoter of which the activity is essentially limited to the certain stage of development. In a developing B cell, which, e.g., after immunization is maturing and/or differentiating, the expression of the gene of interest, when it is one of the polypeptide chains of an immunoglobulin, must not interfere (significantly) with the maturation and/or differentiation and it needs to be timed such that the resulting polypeptide can pair with its counterparts. Therefore, provided is a nucleic acid described herein wherein the certain stage starts at a stage immediately preceding or coinciding with the onset of the expression of light chain molecules by the cells at a certain stage of development into a mature B cell. This may be achieved by selecting a promoter which is active only during the suitable period. Such a promoter may be a CD19 promoter, the Ig-α promoter, the Ig-β promoter, the μhc (all genes) promoter, the Vk promoter or analogues or homologues thereof.

In a specific embodiment, the promoter as disclosed above does not drive the expression of the gene of interest directly. Instead it drives the expression of a gene of which the product activates in trans the expression of the gene of interest. Such an activating gene may be a gene encoding a so-called Cre recombinase or Cre-like protein. The expression cassette for the gene of interest may, e.g., be provided with a sequence that inhibits expression of the gene of interest. The sequence can be removed by the action of the Cre recombinase, which is under control of the desired promoter (active during the proper stage of development). In this embodiment a set of expression cassettes is required.

Therefore, provided is a set of nucleic acids that are expression cassettes, wherein one nucleic acid comprises an expression cassette encoding a Cre-like protein under control of a promoter active during the desired stage of development of the host cell and the second nucleic acid comprises a sequence encoding a desired proteinaceous molecule under control of a constitutive promoter which can be activated by the action of a Cre-like protein. The activation is preferably achieved by removal of a stop sequence flanked by loxP sites. The Cre/lox system is described in detail in Rajewsky et al. (1996), J. Clin. Invest. 98:600-603, which is incorporated herein by reference. Such systems are reviewed in F. T. Wunderlich (2004), “Generation of inducible Cre systems for conditional gene inactivation in mice,” Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultat der Universitat zu Koln; on the World Wide Web at deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=97557230x&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filename=97557230x.pd, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Further provided is a transgenic non-human animal that has been provided with an expression cassette hereof, wherein the desired proteinaceous molecule is a polypeptide chain of an immunoglobulin. A preferred polypeptide chain is a light chain. A more preferred polypeptide is a germline or germline-like light chain. A most preferred polypeptide is encoded by the immunoglobulin kappa variable 1-39 (IGKV1-39, also known as O12) gene segment, preferably the rearranged germline kappa light chain IGKV1-39*01/IGKJ1*01 (nomenclature according to the IMGT database, at [worldwideweb].imgt.org).

In certain embodiments, the polypeptide chain is rendered essentially incapable of rearrangement and/or of excluded of any sequence modification such as normally operating on Ig during the process of B cell affinity maturation. Therefore, provided is a transgenic non-human animal that has been provided with an expression cassette described herein, wherein the rearrangement and/or sequence modifications are prevented by the absence of elements at least partially responsible for somatic hypermutation such as, for example, the MoEκi enhancer.

A preferred expression cassette described herein comprises means for prevention of silencing. In one embodiment, the means for prevention of silencing are means for insertion into a locus in the genome of the host cell that is resistant to silencing. The means for insertion are preferably means for homologous recombination into the site resistant to silencing. A preferred locus when the non-human animal is a mouse is the rosa-locus.

A further preferred expression cassette described herein comprises in 5′-3′ direction: a Vκ promoter, a mouse leader, a human V gene, optionally a MoEκi enhancer, a rat constant region (Cκ) and optionally a (truncated) MoEκ3′ enhancer.

Yet a further preferred expression cassette described herein comprises in 5′-3′ direction: a Vκ promoter, a human leader, a human V gene, optionally a MoEκi enhancer, a rat constant region (Cκ) and optionally a (truncated) MoEκ3′ enhancer.

Certain antibodies produced as described herein may be used in human therapeutics and diagnostics. Thus, provided is a method for producing a desired antibody comprising exposing a non-human mammal described herein to an antigen such that an antibody response is induced and isolating the antibodies specific for the antigen.

In certain embodiments, provided are methods for producing a desired antibody comprising exposing a non-human mammal described herein to an antigen such that an antibody response is induced and isolating cells producing such antibodies, culturing and optionally immortalizing the cells and harvesting the antibodies.

In certain embodiments, provided is a method for producing a desired antibody comprising exposing a non-human mammal described herein to an antigen such that an antibody response is induced and isolating a nucleic acid encoding at least part of such an antibody, inserting the nucleic acid or a copy or a derivative thereof in an expression cassette and expressing the antibody in a host cell.

The methods for producing antibodies from transgenic mice are known to a person skilled in the art. Particularly preferred are methods for production of mixtures of antibodies from one cell, whereby the nucleic acids encoding these antibodies have been derived from mice described herein.

These so-called oligoclonics are disclosed in WO04106375 and WO05068622, which are incorporated herein by reference.

Described herein are transgenic non-human mammals, preferably mice, capable of generating specific and high affinity hybrid mouse-human antibodies with preferably human immunoglobulin light chain variable (VL) regions in or near germline configuration and preferably murine immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (VH) regions that may have accumulated somatic mutations during the process of antigen-driven affinity maturation. It is envisaged that the murine VH regions of the hybrid antibodies may be subjected to humanization procedures to yield mAbs that have reduced immunogenicity when applied in humans based on germline or near-germline VL regions and murine VH regions that have been humanized.

In particular, we have shown that transgenic mice that harbor a DNA expression construct that encodes a rearranged human VL region under the control of cis-acting genetic elements that provide timely and regulated expression of the transgene on a significant proportion of B cells during B cell development, yet lack elements that direct the somatic hypermutation machinery to the transgene, are capable of generating specific and high affinity mouse-human hybrid antibodies with essentially unmutated L chains. It is shown that the rearranged human transgene is capable of pairing with a diversity of endogenous murine immunoglobulin H chains to form mouse-human hybrid immunoglobulins expressed on the surface of B cells and to sufficiently facilitate murine B cell development to obtain a sizeable and diverse peripheral B cell compartment.

In certain embodiments, the transgene expression construct harbors the coding sequences of a human rearranged L chain V region under the control of a human VL promoter to direct B-cell specific expression. In addition, the construct harbors the murine 3′ Ck enhancer sequence for B cell specific and inducible and high level expression of the transgene. Furthermore, the construct is designed to lack regulatory elements that facilitate the recruitment of the somatic hypermutation machinery to the transgene, such as the intron enhancer and the 3′ C-kappa enhancer.

In a related embodiment, the rearranged human VL gene is inserted in the murine Rosa26 locus by site-specific integration. The Rosa26 locus is useful in the context of the “targeted transgenesis” approach for efficient generation of transgenic organisms (such as mice) with a predictable transgene expression pattern.

In certain embodiments, the rearranged human VL region is selected for its capacity to pair with many different murine VH genes so as to ensure the generation of a population of B cells with a diverse VH gene repertoire. A method of obtaining such VL regions comprises amplifying a repertoire of rearranged VH genes from the B cells of mice and a repertoire of human rearranged germline VL regions from the B cells of humans and cloning them into phagemid display vectors to prepare diverse libraries of hybrid immunoglobulins in bacteria. By nucleotide sequence analysis of collections of unselected and antigen-selected VH/VL pairs, human germline VL genes that pair with many different murine VH genes are identified. A collection of human germline VL genes with this capacity is described.

In one embodiment, it is shown that upon immunization with antigen, the B cells are capable of mounting an immune response, leading to the generation of B cells that secrete hybrid antibodies with high specificity and affinity. The V regions encoding these antibodies are characterized by the human transgenic light chain that harbors no or very few mutations and a murine heavy chain that harbors a variable number of mutations introduced by the somatic hypermutation machinery.

In a related embodiment, strategies to obtain high affinity hybrid monoclonal antibodies from the transgenic mice by hybridoma and display technologies are contemplated as well as procedures to humanize the murine VH regions to obtain less immunogenic antibodies for application in humans.

In one embodiment, provided is an immunoglobulin L chain transgene construct comprising DNA sequences that encode a human immunoglobulin VL region in combination with a light chain constant region (CL) of an animal immunoglobulin protein, which sequences are operably linked to transcription regulatory sequences that, when integrated in a non-human transgenic animal, produce an Ig VL-CL polypeptide with a human VL region that is not or marginally subject to somatic hypermutation. The Ig VL is capable of pairing with rearranged VH-CH polypeptides that are generated during B cell development in the non-human transgenic animal, with the VH-CH polypeptides retaining the capacity to undergo somatic hypermutation upon stimulation. The CL region may be of any animal species and is generally capable of pairing with the CH regions of the non-human transgenic animal.

Also included is the use of a transgene construct as above in producing a transgenic non-human animal capable of the production of hybrid antibodies consisting of VL-CL polypeptides and VH-CH polypeptides in which the VL region is of human origin and the CL, VH and CH may be of any animal species, including human. Upon immunization, these transgenic animals are capable of generating high affinity antibodies encoded by somatically hypermutated VH genes and essentially non-mutated VL genes encoded by the transgene.

In another aspect, provided is a process for the production of a transgenic non-human animal capable of the production of hybrid antibodies in response to antigenic challenge, comprising functionally disrupting the endogenous immunoglobulin light chain locus and inserting into the animal genome a transgene construct of the invention.

Included is the use of animals obtainable by this process in the production of B cells that produce immunoglobulin having human VL light chain. In another aspect of the invention there is provided a process for the production of B cells that produce immunoglobulin having human VL and binding to a selected antigen, comprising challenging an animal obtainable by a process as above with the antigen and screening for B cells from the animal that bind the antigen. Further included is B cells obtainable by this process and hybridomas obtainable by immortalizing such B cells, e.g., hybridomas obtained by fusing B cells as above with myeloma cells. Also included is a process for producing monoclonal antibody comprising cultivating such a hybridoma. In yet a further aspect, provided is the use of the above B cells in producing a hybridoma or corresponding monoclonal antibody.

Described herein is a process for the production of immunoglobulin having human VL chain and binding to a selected antigen, comprising challenging an animal obtainable as above with the antigen and obtaining immunoglobulin there from.

In one strategy, as an individual step, a rearranged VL region encoded by human germline V and J gene segments and a light chain constant region of any animal species but preferably a murine constant region is introduced into the mouse germ line. The transgene DNA may be introduced into the pronuclei of fertilized oocytes or embryonic stem cells. The integration may be random or homologous depending on the particular strategy to be employed. For example, the VL transgene may be introduced by random insertion, resulting in mice that bear one or multiple copies of the transgene in the genome. Alternatively, the human VL transgene may be targeted to a specific genomic locus using site-specific recombination as described in the art.

In certain embodiments, the VL transgene is targeted to the murine ROSA26 locus which is a suitable integration site allowing strong and predictable expression of inserted transgenes (European Patent Office document EP 1,439,234 A1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference). The targeting vector allows insertion of a single copy of a gene expression cassette, thus avoiding modulation of transgene expression by the arrangement of multiple copies. By choosing the autosomal Rosa26 locus as insertion site, the expression pattern of the inserted transgene in the non-human animal is predictable. Furthermore, random X inactivation and/or modulation by chromosomal position effects are avoided. This also eliminates the need to generate and analyze multiple transgenic strains for any given transgene. Finally, the Rosa26 targeting vector for the site-specific integration can be used for multiple gene expression cassettes. Thus, it may be envisaged that two or more different rearranged germline human VL regions are inserted into the Rosa26 locus to further increase the diversity of the repertoire of hybrid or human antibodies.

In another embodiment, a rearranged human VL region may be targeted to the murine Ig kappa or lambda light chain locus so as to functionally inactivate the endogenous locus or mice containing the rearranged human VL region may be bred with mice that lack functional kappa or lambda Ig loci or both. Thus, by using transformation, using repetitive steps or in combination with breeding, transgenic animals may be obtained which are able to produce antibodies harboring the human VL transgene in the substantial absence of endogenous host immunoglobulin light chains.

In one embodiment, a human VL transgene is selected for its capacity to pair with a substantial portion of murine VH regions to form a diverse repertoire of functional mouse-human hybrid antibodies expressed on the surface of B cells. By a substantial portion of murine VH regions is meant that the human VL pairs with at least with 0.1% of the murine VH regions generated during B cell development, more preferably with at least 1% and most preferably with at least 10%. Methods to identify human VL genes with this characteristic include randomly pairing a repertoire of human VL regions with a repertoire of murine VH regions, co-expression of VH and VL regions in appropriate eukaryotic or prokaryotic expression vectors and screening for human VL regions that pair with a substantial portion of murine VH regions. In one embodiment, phagemid vectors may be used to direct expression of mouse-human antibody fragments in bacterial cells or to the surface of filamentous phage and analysis of binding capacity of antibody fragments by methods known in the art.

In another embodiment, a human VL transgene is selected for its capacity to pair with a substantial portion of human VH regions to form a diverse repertoire of human antibodies expressed on the surface of B cells. By a substantial portion of human VH regions is meant that the human VL pairs with at least with 0.1% of the human VH regions generated during B cell development, more preferably with at least 1% and most preferably with at least 10%.

In the latter embodiment, the human VL transgenic mice are crossed with mice that harbor functional rearranged or non-rearranged human H chain immunoglobulin loci and functionally inactivated endogenous H chain Ig loci as described in the art. The functional inactivation of the two copies of each of the three host Ig loci (heavy chain, kappa and lambda light chain), where the host contains the human IgH and the rearranged human VL transgene would allow for the production of purely human antibody molecules without the production of host or host human chimeric antibodies. Such a host strain, by immunization with specific antigens, would respond by the production of mouse B-cells producing specific human antibodies, which B-cells are subsequently fused with mouse myeloma cells or are immortalized in any other manner for the continuous stable production of human monoclonal antibodies. Alternatively, the population of B cells is used as a source of VH regions that can be obtained by constructing cDNA libraries or by PCR amplification using primers for human VH regions as is known in the art.

A human rearranged VL gene is reconstructed in an appropriate eukaryotic or prokaryotic microorganism and the resulting DNA fragments can be introduced into pronuclei of fertilized mouse oocytes or embryonic stem cells. Various constructs that direct B cell specific expression of VL transgenes have been described in the art and have the following general format: a leader sequence and relevant upstream sequences to direct B cell specific expression of the transgene, a coding sequence of a human VL transgene, an enhancer sequence that directs B cell specific and high level expression of the transgene and a murine constant region gene. In a preferred format, the enhancer is the C-kappa 3′ enhancer because it directs high level expression in B-lineage cells, but does not recruit somatic hypermutation when used in transgene constructs.

In one embodiment, animals, preferably mice, comprising one or multiple copies of the transgene in the genome are isolated and analyzed for stable expression. Animals are selected that show stable expression of the transgene over longer periods of time, preferably in B-cells. If required, different animal lines comprising independent insertions of one or multiple copies of the transgene, preferably on different chromosomes, are crossed to obtain animals with different insertions of one or multiple copies of the transgene to increase expression of the transgene in animals, preferably in B-cells.

Further provided is progeny of a transgenic non-human animal described herein, the progeny comprising, at least in its B-cell lineage, a heavy- or light chain encoding sequence together with a means that renders the sequence resistant to DNA rearrangements and/or somatic hypermutations.

Further provided is progeny of a transgenic non-human animal described herein, the progeny comprising an expression cassette for the expression of a desired proteinaceous molecule in cells during a certain stage of development in cells developing into mature B cells.

In addition, provided is a cell that is isolated from a transgenic non-human animal described herein, the cell comprising a heavy- or light chain encoding sequence together with a means that renders the sequence resistant to DNA rearrangements and/or somatic hypermutations. In addition, provided is a cell that is isolated from a transgenic non-human animal described herein, the cell comprising an expression cassette for the expression of a desired proteinaceous molecule in cells during a certain stage of development in cells developing into mature B cells. A cell described herein, preferably an antibody-producing B-cell or a cell that is capable of differentiating or maturating into an antibody-producing B-cell, can be used for in vitro production of antibodies, as is known to the skilled person, for example, from Gascan et al. 1991, J. Exp. Med. 173:747-750. Methods for immortalization of a cell described herein are known in the art and include the generation of hybridomas, for example, by fusion with a myeloma cell, transformation with Epstein Barr Virus; expression of the signal transducer of activation and transcription (STAT), activation via CD40 and IL4 receptor signaling, and/or expression of Bc16 (Shvarts et al. 2002, Genes Dev. 16: 681-686).

In a separate step, the mouse endogenous Kappa and Lambda light chain loci are rendered essentially non-functional such that at least the majority of B cells in the transgenic mice bear Ig receptors that contain the transgenic human VL region. Inactivation of the endogenous mouse immunoglobulin loci is achieved by targeted disruption of the appropriate loci by homologous recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells. The targeted disruption comprises alteration of the genomic sequence such that substantially no functional endogenous mouse immunoglobulin Kappa and/or Lambda light chain is produced. The term “substantially no functional endogenous mouse immunoglobulin” indicates that the endogenous Kappa and/or Lambda light chain loci are functionally silenced such that the level of functional protein expression of the endogenous Kappa and/or Lambda light chain loci, preferably the endogenous Kappa light chain locus, is reduced to about 20% of the level of expression in a reference mouse, more preferred to about 10%, more preferred to about 5%, more preferred to about 2% and more preferred to about 1%. In a most preferred embodiment, the level of functional protein expression of the endogenous Kappa and/or Lambda light chain loci is reduced to 0%. The level of functional protein expression can be determined by means known to the skilled person, including western blotting and pairing with a mouse heavy chain. The reference mouse is a mouse in which the endogenous Kappa and/or Lambda light chain loci is not disrupted. The alteration comprises mutation and/or deletion of gene sequences that are required for functional expression of the endogenous immunoglobulin genes. Alternatively, the alteration comprises insertion of a nucleic acid into the endogenous mouse immunoglobulin Kappa and/or Lambda light chain loci such that the functional expression of the endogenous immunoglobulin genes is reduced. In one embodiment, the nucleic acid comprises a silencing element resulting in transcriptional silencing of the endogenous immunoglobulin gene. In a further embodiment, or in addition, the nucleic acid comprises a sequence that disrupts splicing and/or translation of the endogenous immunoglobulin gene, for example, by introducing an exon that renders a frame shift in the coding sequence, or that comprises a premature stop codon. In each case chimeric animals are generated which are derived in part from the modified embryonic stem cells and are capable of transmitting the genetic modifications through the germ line. The mating of mouse strains with human immunoglobulin loci to strains with inactivated mouse loci yields animals which produce antibodies comprising essentially only human light chains.

A construct for homologous recombination is prepared by means known in the art and any undesirable sequences are removed, e.g., procaryotic sequences. Any convenient technique for introducing a construct for homologous recombination into a target cell may be employed. These techniques include spheroplast fusion, lipofection, electroporation, calcium phosphate-mediated DNA transfer or direct microinjection. After transformation or transfection of the target cells, target cells are selected by means of positive and/or negative markers, for example, by neomycin resistance and/or acyclovir and/or gancyclovir resistance. Those cells which show the desired phenotype may then be further analyzed by restriction analysis, electrophoresis, Southern analysis, PCR, or the like. By identifying fragments which show the presence of the lesion(s) at the target locus, cells in which homologous recombination has occurred to inactivate a copy of the target locus are identified.

Furthermore, it is shown that upon immunization, the murine and human VH regions in the afore-mentioned transgenic mice but not the VL regions are capable of undergoing somatic hypermutations to generate high affinity antibodies. Advantageously, these antibodies encoded by germline VL regions are predicted to contribute to lower immunogenicity when applied in humans and result in more stable antibodies that are less prone to aggregation and thus safer for therapeutic use in humans.

MAbs derived from the afore-mentioned non-human transgenic animals or cells all share the same identical human VL regions. It has been described that mAbs that share the same identical VL region may be co-expressed in a single clonal cell for the production of mixtures of recombinant antibodies with functional binding sites (see the incorpoarated WO04106375 and WO05068622). Thus, provided is a platform for the generation of specific and high affinity mAbs that constitute the basis for mixtures of mAbs produced by clonal cells.

It is preferred that mAbs derived from the afore-mentioned non-human transgenic animals or cells are directed against cellular targets. Preferred targets are human surface-expressed or soluble proteins or carbohydrate molecules. Further preferred targets are surface-expressed proteins or carbohydrate molecules that are expressed on the surface of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, especially of humans.

More specifically, preferred targets include cytokines and chemokines, including but not limited to InterLeukin 1beta (IL1beta), IL2, IL4, IL5, IL7, IL8, IL12, IL13, IL15, IL18, IL21, IL23 and chemokines such as, for example, CXC chemokines, CC chemokines, C chemokines (or y chemokines) such as XCL1 (lymphotactin-a) and XCL2 (lymphotactin-B), and CX3C chemokines. Further included as preferred targets are receptor molecules of the cytokines and chemokines, including type I cytokine receptors such as, for example, the IL-2 receptor, type II cytokine receptors such as, for example, interferon receptors, immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily receptors, tumor necrosis factor receptor family including receptors for CD40, CD27 and CD30, serine/threonine-protein kinase receptors such as TGF beta receptors, G-protein coupled receptors such as CXCR1-CXCR7, and tyrosine kinase receptors such as fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) family members, EGF receptor family members including erbB1 (EGF-R; HER1), erbB2, (HER2), erbB3 (HER3), and erbB4 (HER4), insulin receptor family members including IGF-R1 and IGF-RII, PDGF receptor family members, Hepatocyte growth factor receptor family members including c-Met (HGF-R), Trk receptor family members, AXL receptor family members, LTK receptor family members, TIE receptor family members, ROR receptor family members, DDR receptor family members, KLG receptor family members, RYK receptor family members, MuSK receptor family members, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) family members.

Further preferred targets are targets that are over-expressed or selectively expressed in tumors such as, for example, VEGF, CD20, CD38, CD33, CEA, EpCAM, PSMA, CD54, Lewis Y, CD52, CD40, CD22, CD51/CD61, CD74, MUC-1, CD38, CD19, CD262 (TRAIL-R2), RANKL, CTLA4, and CD30; targets that are involved in chronic inflammation such as, for example, CD25, CD11a, TNF, CD4, CD80, CD23, CD3, CD14, IFNgamma, CD40L, CD50, CD122, TGFbeta and TGFalpha.

Preferred surface-expressed proteins or carbohydrate molecules that are expressed on the surface of bacteria, viruses, and other parasitic pathogens, especially of humans, include surface markers of influenza A and B viruses such as hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), filoviruses such as Ebola virus, rabies, measles, rubella, mumps, flaviviruses such as Dengue virus types 1-4, tick-borne encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and Yellow fever virus, Paramyxoviruses including Paramyxovirus such as Parainfluenza 1, 3, Rubulavirus such as Mumpsvirus and Parainfluenza 2, 4, Morbillivirus, and Pneumovirus such as Respiratory syncytial virus, Vaccinia, small pox, coronaviruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, hepatitis virus A, B and C, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Herpes viruses, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr virus, Herpes simplex virus, and Varicella zoster virus, parvoviruses such as, for example, B19; Legionella pneumophila; Listeria monocytogenes; Campylobacter jejuni; Staphylococcus aureus; E. coli O157:H7; Borrelia burgdorferi; Helicobacter pylori; Ehrlichia chaffeensis; Clostridium difficile; Vibrio cholera; Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium; Bartonella henselae; Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Strep); Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Strep); Multiple drug resistant S. aureus (e.g., MRSA); Chlamydia pneumoniae; Clostridium botulinum; Vibrio vulnificus; Parachlamydia pneumonia; Corynebacterium amycolatum; Klebsiella pneumonia; Linezolid-resistant enterococci (E. faecalis and E. faecium); and Multiple drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Most preferred targets are IL-6 and its receptor, IL-6Ralpha, glycoprotein-denominated gp130, RSV, especially the surface proteins F, G and SH and non-structural proteins such as N and M, and receptor tyrosine kinases, in particular erbB1 (EGF-R; HER1), erbB2, (HER2), erbB3 (HER3), erbB4 (HER4), IGF-R1 and IGF-RII, c-Met (HGF-R).

Therefore, provided is a platform for the generation of specific and high affinity mAbs against the above mentioned targets that constitute the basis for mixtures of mAbs produced by clonal cells. In certain embodiments, the specific and high affinity mAbs comprise mAbs that are directed against different epitopes on at least one of the targets. In a further preferred embodiment, the specific and high affinity mAbs comprise mAbs that are directed against different targets, such as, for example, one or more members of the EGF-receptor family, including erbB1 (EGF-R; HER1), erbB2, (HER2), erbB3 (HER3) and erbB4 (HER4).

Unless otherwise defined, scientific and technical terms used in connection with the present invention shall have the meanings that are commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shall include pluralities and plural terms shall include the singular. Generally, nomenclatures utilized in connection with, and techniques of, cell and tissue culture, molecular biology, and protein and oligo- or polynucleotide chemistry and hybridization described herein are those well known and commonly used in the art. Standard techniques are used for recombinant DNA, oligonucleotide synthesis, and tissue culture and transformation (e.g., electroporation, lipofection). Enzymatic reactions and purification techniques are performed according to manufacturer's specifications or as commonly accomplished in the art or as described herein. The foregoing techniques and procedures are generally performed according to conventional methods well known in the art and as described in various general and more specific references that are cited and discussed throughout the present specification. See, e.g., Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (3rd edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (2001)), which is incorporated herein by reference. The nomenclatures utilized in connection with, and the laboratory procedures and techniques of, analytical chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry described herein are those well known and commonly used in the art. Standard techniques are used for chemical syntheses, chemical analyses, pharmaceutical preparation, formulation, and delivery, and treatment of patients.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

FIG. 1: A topology map of the annealing locations of mouse specific VH primers and the position of required restriction sites that are introduced by overhanging sequences at the 3′ end of primers.

FIG. 2: PCR amplification steps (Amplification, Intermediate and Site introduction). The location and names of the mouse VH amplification primers (and mixtures of primers) are indicated per step.

FIG. 3: Topology of the MV1043 vector. This vector is used for the cloning of human or murine VH fragments. O12 (IGKV1-39) is indicated as the VL gene. Products of this vector in combination with helper phages in E. coli cells allow the generation of phages that display Fab fragments on the surface of the phage particles as a fusion product to the g3 protein and presence of the vector in the phage as the genetic content (F1 ORI).

FIG. 4: The topology of the mouse Ckappa locus downstream of the J-segments. Both enhancers and Ckappa region are indicated. The lower arrow indicates the region that is removed in order to silence the locus.

FIG. 5: The topology of the mouse C-lambda locus. All three active V-regions are indicated (Igl-V1, V2 and V3) as are the J-segments (Igl-J1, Igl-J2, Igl-J3, Igl-J4 and the pseudo segment Igl-J3p) and constant regions (Igl-C1, Igl-C2, Igl-C3 and Igl-C4). The regions that are deleted in order to silence the locus are indicated by deletion markers. These deletions include all active V genes (1, 2 and 3) and the intergenic segment between V2 and V3.

FIG. 6: Construct topology of IGKV1-39/J-Ck with an intron located in the leader open reading frame (ORF).

FIG. 7: Construct topology of IGLV2-14/J-Ck with an intron located in the leader open reading frame (ORF).

FIG. 8: Construct topology of VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck (VkP-O12). The promoter originates from the IGKV1-39 gene and is placed directly in front of the required elements for efficient transcription and translation. Intergenic sequences (including the enhancers) are derived from mice and obtained from BAC clones. The C-kappa sequence codes for the kappa constant region of rat.

FIG. 9: Construct topology of VkP-IGLV2-14/J-Ck (VkP-2a2). The promoter originates from the IGKV1-39 gene and is placed directly in front of the required elements for efficient transcription and translation. Intergenic sequences (including the enhancers) are derived from mice and obtained from BAC clones. The C-kappa sequence codes for the kappa constant region of rat.

FIG. 10: Construct topology of VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A1 (VkP-O12-del1) is identical to VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck from FIG. 9 except that the intron enhancer region is removed.

FIG. 11: Construct topology of VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A2 VkP-O12-de12) is identical to VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A1 from FIG. 10 except that a large piece of the intergenic region between the Ck gene and 3′ enhancer is deleted. In addition, the 3′ enhancer is reduced in size from 809 bp to 125 bp.

FIG. 12: Overview of the sequences used or referred to in this application: Human germline IGKV1-39/J DNA (SEQ ID NO:84); human germline IGKV1-39/J Protein (SEQ ID NO:85); human germline IGLV2-14/J DNA (SEQ ID NO:86); human germline IGLV2-14/J Protein (SEQ ID NO:87); Rat IGCK allele a DNA (SEQ ID NO:88); Rat IGCK allele a protein (SEQ ID NO:89); IGKV1-39/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:90); IGLV2-14/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:91); VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:92); VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A1 (SEQ ID NO:93); VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A2 (SEQ ID NO:94); VkP-IGLV2-14/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:95); pSELECT-IGKV1-39/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:96); pSelect-IGLV2-14/J-Ck (SEQ ID NO:97); MV1043 (SEQ ID NO:98); and MV1057 (SEQ ID NO:99).

FIGS. 13A-C: Generation of Rosa26-IgVk1-39 KI allele. FIG. 13A Schematic drawing of the pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 targeting vector. FIG. 13B Nucleotide sequence of the pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 targeting vector (SEQ ID NO:100). FIG. 13C Targeting strategy.

FIGS. 14A-C: FIG. 14A Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA of ES clones comprising an insertion of the pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 targeting vector. Genomic DNA of four independent clones was digested with AseI and probed with 5e1 indicating the 5′-border of the targeting vector. All clones comprise a correct insertion of the targeting vector at the 5′ end.

FIG. 14B Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA of ES clones comprising an insertion of the pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 targeting vector. Genomic DNA of four independent clones was digested with MscI and probed with 3e1 indicating the 3′-border of the targeting vector. All clones comprise a correct insertion of the targeting vector at the 3′ end. FIG. 14C Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA of ES clones comprising an insertion of the pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 targeting vector. Genomic DNA of four independent clones was digested with BamHI and probed with an internal Neo probe indicating the 5′-border of the targeting vector. All clones comprise a correct, single insertion of the targeting vector.

FIGS. 15A-C: Generation of Rosa26-IgV12-14 KI allele. FIG. 15A Schematic drawing of the pCAGGS-IgVL2-14 targeting vector. FIG. 15B Nucleotide sequence of the pCAGGS-IgVL2-14 targeting vector containing the CAGGS expression insert (SEQ ID NO:101) based on the rearranged germline IGLV2-14/J V lambda region (IGLV2-14/J-Ck). FIG. 15C Targeting strategy.

FIGS. 16A-C: Epibase® profile of IGKV1-39 residues 1-107 (SEQ ID NO:85).

FIG. 16A displays the binding strength for DRB1 allotypes, while FIG. 16C displays the binding strength for DRB3/4/5, DQ and DP allotypes. The values in the figure represent dissociation constants (Kds) and are plotted on a logarithmic scale in the range 0.01 μM-0.1 μM (very strong binders may have run off the plot). For medium binding peptides, qualitative values are given only, and weak and non-binders are not shown. Values are plotted on the first residue of the peptide in the target sequence (the peptide itself extends by another nine residues). Importantly, only the strongest binding receptor for each peptide is shown: cross-reacting allotypes with lower affinity are not visible in this plot. The strongest binding receptor is indicated by its serotypic name. Finally, any germline-filtered peptides are plotted with a lighter color in the epitope map (in this case, no non-self epitopes were found). FIG. 16B shows the HLA binding promiscuity for every decameric peptide (Y-axis: the number of HLA allotypes recognizing critical epitopes in each of the peptides starting at the indicated residue shown on the X-axis). The promiscuity is measured as the number of allotypes out of the total of 47 for which the peptide is a critical binder. White columns refer to self-peptides, and black columns (absent here) to non-self peptides.

FIG. 17: Epitope map of IGKV1-39 showing the presence of peptide binders predicted in the sequence of IGKV1-39 by serotype in the 15-mer format. Each 15-mer is numbered as indicated in the top of the figure. The full sequence of the corresponding 15-mer is listed in Table 7. Black boxes indicate the presence of one or more critical self-epitopes in the 15-mer for the serotype listed on the left. Critical epitopes are operationally defined as strong or medium DRB1 binders and strong DRB3/4/5 or DP or DQ binders.

FIGS. 18A-B: Constitutive knock-out (KO) of the Ig kappa locus. FIG. 18A Targeting strategy. FIG. 18B Schematic drawing of the pIgKappa targeting vector.

FIGS. 19A-B: Constitutive KO of the Ig lambda locus. FIG. 19A First step of the targeting strategy. FIG. 19B Second step of the targeting strategy.

FIGS. 20A-C: Schematic drawing of targeting vectors. FIG. 20A pVkP-O12 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck); FIG. 20B pVkP-O12-del1 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A1); FIG. 20C pVkP-O12-de12 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A2).

FIGS. 21A-C: Targeting strategies for insertion of transgene into the Rosa26 locus by targeted transgenesis using RMCE. FIG. 21A VkP-O12 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck); FIG. 21B VkP-O12-del1 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A1); FIG. 21C VkP-O12-de12 (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-A2).

FIG. 22: Topology of the MV1057 vector. Replacing the indicated stuffer fragment with a VH fragment yields an expression vector that can be transfected to eukaryotic cells for the production of IgG1 antibodies with light chains containing an O12 (IGKV1-39) VL gene.

FIG. 23: Lack of transgenic human Vk1 light chain expression in non-B cell populations of the spleen.

FIG. 24: Transgenic human Vk1 light chain is expressed in all B cell populations of the spleen.

FIG. 25: Transgenic human Vk1 light chain is expressed in B1 cells of the peritoneal cavity.

FIGS. 26A-B: Transgenic human Vk1 light chain is not expressed in pro- and pre-B cells but in the immature and recirculating populations B cells in the bone marrow. FIG. 26A Gating of bone marrow cells. FIG. 26B Histograms of transgene expression with overlay from one WT control.

FIG. 27: Transgenic human Vk1 light chain is directly correlated with endogenous light chain and IgM expression in circulating B cells in the blood.

FIG. 28: Parameters of stability for stable clones containing the germline IGKV1-39 gene.

FIG. 29A-B: Antibody mixtures used for staining of lymphocyte populations. BM=bone marrow, PC=peritoneal cavity, PP=Peyer's patches.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Examples Example 1: Human Light Chain V-Gene Clones

This example describes the rationale behind the choice of two human light chain V-genes, one gene of the kappa type and one gene of the lambda type, that are used as a proof of concept for light chain expressing transgenic mice. De Wildt et al. 1999 (de Wildt et al. (1999), J. Mol. Biol. 285(3):895) analyzed the expression of human light chains in peripheral IgG-positive B-cells. Based on these data, IGKV1-39 (O12) and IGLV2-14 (2a2) were chosen as light chains as they were well represented in the B-cell repertoire. The J-segment sequence of the light chains has been chosen based upon sequences as presented in GenBank ABA26122 for IGKV1-39 (B. J. Rabquer, S. L. Smithson, A. K. Shriner and M. A. J. Westerink) and GenBank AAF20450 for IGLV2-14 (O. Ignatovich, I. M. Tomlinson, A. V. Popov, M. Bruggemann and G. J. Winter, J. Mol. Biol. 294 (2):457-465 (1999)).

All framework segments are converted into germline amino acid sequences to provide the lowest immunogenicity possible in potential clinical applications.

Example 2: Obtaining Mouse Heavy Chain V-Genes that Pair with Human IGKV1-39 Gene Segment to Form Functional Antibody Binding Sites

This example describes the identification of mouse heavy chain V-genes that are capable of pairing with a single, rearranged human germline IGKV1-39/J region. A spleen VH repertoire from mice that were immunized with tetanus toxoid was cloned in a phage display Fab vector with a single human IGKV1-39-C kappa light chain and subjected to panning against tetanus toxoid. Clones obtained after a single round of panning were analyzed for their binding specificity. The murine VH genes encoding tetanus toxoid-specific Fab fragments were subjected to sequence analysis to identify unique clones and assign VH, DH and JH utilization.

Many of the protocols described here are standard protocols for the construction of phage display libraries and the panning of phages for binding to an antigen of interest and described in Antibody Phage Display: Methods and Protocols (editor(s): Philippa M. O'Brien and Robert Aitken).

Immunizations

BALB/c mice received one immunization with tetanus toxoid and were boosted after six weeks with tetanus toxoid.

Splenocyte Isolation

Preparation of spleen cell suspension. After dissection, the spleen was washed with PBS and transferred to a 60 mm Petri dish with 20 ml PBS. A syringe capped with 20 ml PBS and a G20 needle was used to repeatedly flush the spleen. After washing the flushed cells with PBS, the cells were carefully brought into suspension using 20 ml PBS and left on a bench for five minutes to separate the splenocytes from the debris and cell clusters. The splenocytes suspension was transferred on top of a Ficoll-Paque™ PLUS-filled tube and processed according to the manufacturer's procedures for lymphocyte isolation (Amersham Biosciences).

RNA Isolation and cDNA Synthesis

After isolation and pelleting of lymphocytes, the cells were suspended in TRIzol LS Reagent (Invitrogen) for the isolation of total RNA according to the accompanying manufacturer's protocol and subjected to reverse transcription reaction using 1 microgram of RNA, Superscript III RT in combination with dT20 according to manufacturer's procedures (Invitrogen).

PCR Amplification of cDNA

The cDNA was amplified in a PCR reaction using primer combinations that allow the amplification of approximately 110 different murine V-genes belonging to 15 VH families (Table 1; RefSeq NG 005838; Thiebe et al. 1999, European Journal of Immunology 29:2072-2081). In the first round, primer combinations that bind to the 5′ end of the V-genes and 3′ end of the J regions were used. In the second round, PCR products that were generated with the MJH-Rev2 primer were amplified in order to introduce modifications in the 3′ region to enable efficient cloning of the products. In the last round of amplification, all PCR products were amplified using primers that introduce a SfiI restriction site at the 5′ end and a BstEII restriction site at the 3′ end (see FIGS. 1 and 2, and Table 1).

Reaction conditions for 1st round PCR: four different reactions combining all 25 forward primers (MVH1 to MVH25, Table 1 and FIG. 2) and one reverse primer per reaction (MJH-Rev1, MJH-Rev2, MJH-Rev3 or MJH-Rev4; see Table 1 and FIG. 2). Fifty microliters PCR volumes were composed of 2 microliters cDNA (from RT reactions), 10 microliters 5* Phusion polymerase HF buffer, 40 nM of each of the 25 forward primers (total concentration of 1 micromolar), 1 micromolar reverse primer, 1 microliter 10 mM dNTP stock, 1.25 unit Phusion polymerase and sterile MQ water. The thermocycler program consisted of a touch down program: one cycle 98° C. for 30 seconds, 30 cycles 98° C. for ten seconds, 58° C. decreasing 0.2° C. per cycle ten seconds, 72° C. 20 seconds and one cycle 72° C. for three minutes. The second round PCR program was set up only for the products of the first PCR that contain the MJH-Rev2 primer: two different reactions combining either the ExtMVH-1 or ExtMVH-2 primers (Table 1 and FIG. 2) in combination with the reverse primer ExtMJH-Rev2int (Table 1 and FIG. 2). Fifty microliters PCR volumes were composed of 50 ng PCR product (from first PCR round), 10 microliters 5* Phusion polymerase HF buffer, 500 nM of each forward primer, 1 micromolar reverse primer, 1 microliter 10 mM dNTP stock, 1.25 unit Phusion polymerase and sterile MQ water. The thermocycler program consisted of a touch down program followed by a regular amplification step: one cycle 98° C. for 30 seconds, ten cycles 98° C. for ten seconds, 65° C. decreasing 1.5° C. per cycle ten seconds, 72° C. 20 seconds, ten cycles 98° C. for ten seconds, 55° C. ten seconds, 72° C. 20 seconds and one cycle 72° C. for three minutes. The third round PCR program was setup as described in FIG. 2. Fifty microliters PCR volumes were composed of 50 ng PCR product (from earlier PCR rounds, FIG. 2), 10 microliters 5* Phusion polymerase HF buffer, 1 micromolar forward primer (Table 1 and FIG. 2), 1 micromolar reverse primer, 1 microliter 10 mM dNTP stock, 1.25 unit Phusion polymerase and sterile MQ water. The program consists of a touch down program followed by a regular amplification step: one cycle 98° C. for 30 seconds, ten cycles 98° C. for ten seconds, 65° C. decreasing 1.5° C. per cycle ten seconds, 72° C. 20 seconds, ten cycles 98° C. for ten seconds, 55° C. ten seconds, 72° C. 20 seconds and one cycle 72° C. for three minutes. After PCR amplifications, all PCR products were gel purified using Qiaex II according to the manufacturer's protocols.

Restriction Enzyme Digestions

Purified products were digested with BstEII and SfiI in two steps. First 1 microgram of DNA was digested in 100 microliters reactions consisting of 10 microliters of 10* NEB buffer 3 (New England Biolabs), 1 microliter 100* BSA, 12.5 unit BstEII and sterile water for six hours at 60° C. in a stove. The products were purified using Qiaquick PCR Purification kit from Qiagen according to the manual instructions and eluted in 40 microliters water. Next all products were further digested with SfiI in 100 microliters reactions consisting of 10 microliters of 10* NEB buffer 2 (New England Biolabs), 1 microliter 100* BSA, 12.5 unit SfiI and sterile water for 12 hours at 50° C. in a stove. The digested fragments were purified by Qiaquick Gel Extraction kit following gel separation on a 20 cm 1.5% agarose TBE plus ethidium bromide gel at 80 V. 100 micrograms of the acceptor vector (MV1043, FIGS. 3 and 12) was digested with 50 units Eco91I in 600 microliters under standard conditions (Tango buffer) and next purified on a 0.9% agarose gel. After a second digestion step under prescribed conditions with 400 units SfiI in 500 microliters for 12 hours, 100 units BsrGI were added for three hours at 50° C.

Ligations

Each PCR product was ligated separately according to the following scheme: 70 ng digested PCR products, 300 ng digested acceptor vector, 100 units T4 Ligase (NEB), 1* ligase buffer in 30 microliters for 16 hours at 12° C. The ligation reactions were purified with phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol extractions followed by glycogen precipitations (Sigma Aldrich #G1767) according to the manufacturer's protocol and finally dissolved in 25 microliters sterile water.

Transformations and Library Storage

The purified ligation products were transformed by electroporation using 1200 microliters TG1 electrocompetent bacteria (Stratagene #200123) per ligation batch and plated on LB carbenicillin plates containing 4% glucose. Libraries were harvested by scraping the bacteria in 50 ml LB carbenicillin. After centrifugation at 2000 g for 20 minutes at 4° C., the bacterial pellets were resuspended carefully in 2 ml ice cold 2*TY/30% glycerol on ice water and frozen on dry ice/ethanol before storage at −80° C.

Library Amplification

Libraries were grown and harvested according to procedures as described by Kramer et al. 2003 (Kramer et al. (2003), Nucleic Acids Res. 31(11):e59) using VCSM13 (Stratagene) as helper phage strain.

Selection of Phages on Coated Immunotubes

Tetanus toxoid was dissolved in PBS in a concentration of 2 μg/ml and coated to MAXISORP™ Nunc-Immuno Tube (Nunc 444474) overnight at 4° C. After discarding the coating solution, the tubes were blocked with 2% skim milk (ELK) in PBS (blocking buffer) for one hour at RT. In parallel, 0.5 ml of the phage library was mixed with 1 ml blocking buffer and incubated for 20 minutes at room temperature. After blocking the phages, the phage solution was added to the tetanus toxoid-coated tubes and incubated for two hours at RT on a slowly rotating platform to allow binding. Next, the tubes were washed ten times with PBS/0.05% TWEEN′-20 detergent followed by phage elution by an incubation with 1 ml 50 mM glycine-HCl pH 2.2 ten minutes at RT on rotating wheel and directly followed by neutralization of the harvested eluent with 0.5 ml 1 M Tris-HCl pH 7.5.

Harvesting Phage Clones

Five ml XL1-Blue MRF (Stratagene) culture at O.D. 0.4 was added to the harvested phage solution and incubated for 30 minutes at 37° C. without shaking to allow infection of the phages. Bacteria were plated on Carbenicillin/Tetracycline 4% glucose 2*TY plates and grown overnight at 37° C.

Phage Production

Phages were grown and processed as described by Kramer et al. 2003 (Kramer et al. 2003, Nucleic Acids Res. 31(11):e59) using VCSM13 as helper phage strain.

Phage ELISA

ELISA plates were coated with 100 microliters tetanus toxoid per well at a concentration of 2 micrograms/ml in PBS overnight at 4° C. Plates coated with 100 microliters thyroglobulin at a concentration of 2 micrograms/ml in PBS were used as a negative control. Wells were emptied, dried by tapping on a paper towel, filled completely with PBS-4% skimmed milk (ELK) and incubated for one hour at room temperature to block the wells. After discarding the block solution, phage minipreps pre-mixed with 50 μl blocking solution were added and incubated for one hour at RT. Next five washing steps with PBS-0.05% Tween-20 removed unbound phages. Bound phages were detected by incubating the wells with 100 microliters anti-M13-HRP antibody conjugate (diluted 1/5000 in blocking buffer) for one hour at room temperature. Free antibody was removed by repeating the washing steps as described above, followed by TMB substrate incubation until color development was visible. The reaction was stopped by adding 100 microliters of 2 M H₂SO₄ per well and analyzed on an ELISA reader at 450 nm emission wavelength (Table 2). Higher numbers indicate stronger signals and thus higher incidence of specific binding of the phage-Fab complex.

Sequencing

Clones that gave signals at least three times above the background signal (Table 2) were propagated, used for DNA miniprep procedures (see procedures Qiagen miniPrep manual) and subjected to nucleotide sequence analysis. Sequencing was performed according to the Big Dye 1.1 kit accompanying manual (Applied Biosystems) using a reverse primer (CH1_Rev1, Table 1) recognizing a 5′ sequence of the CH1 region of the human IgG1 heavy chain (present in the Fab display vector MV1043, FIGS. 3 and 12). Mouse VH sequences of 28 tetanus toxoid binding clones are depicted in Table 3. The results show that the selected murine VH genes belong to different gene families, and different individual members from these gene families are able to pair with the rearranged human IGKV1-39/J VH region to form functional tetanus toxoid-specific antibody binding sites. From the sequence analyses, it was concluded that the murine VH regions utilize a diversity of DH and JH gene segments.

Example 3: Silencing of the Mouse Kappa Light Chain Locus

This example describes the silencing of the mouse endogenous kappa light chain locus. The endogenous kappa locus is modified by homologous recombination in ES cells, followed by the introduction of genetically modified ES cells in mouse embryos to obtain genetically adapted offspring.

A vector that contains an assembled nucleotide sequence consisting of a part comprising the J-region to 338 bp downstream of the J5 gene segment fused to a sequence ending 3′ of the 3′ CK enhancer is used for homologous recombination in ES cells. The assembled sequence is used to delete a genomic DNA fragment spanning from 3′ of the JK region to just 3′ of the 3′ CK enhancer. As a consequence of this procedure, the CK constant gene, the 3′ enhancer and some intergenic regions are removed (see FIGS. 4 and 18A-B).

Construction of the Targeting Vector

A vector that received 4.5-8 kb flanking arms on the 3′ and 5′ end fused to the deletion segment was used for targeted homologous recombination in an ES cell line. Both arms were obtained by PCR means ensuring maximum homology. The targeting strategy allows generation of constitutive KO allele. The mouse genomic sequence encompassing the Igk intronic enhancer, Igk constant region and the Igk 3′ enhancer was replaced with a PuroR cassette, which was flanked by F3 sites and inserted downstream of the Jk elements. Flp-mediated removal of the selection marker resulted in a constitutive KO allele. The replacement of the Igk MiEk-Igk C-Igk 3′E genomic region (approximately 10 kb) with a F3-Puro cassette (approx. 3 kb) was likely to decrease the efficiency of homologous recombination. Therefore, the arms of homology were extended accordingly and more ES cell colonies were analyzed after transfection in order to identify homologous recombinant clones.

Generation of ES Cells Bearing the Deleted Kappa Fragment

The generation of genetically modified ES cells was essentially performed as described (Seibler et al. (2003), Nucleic Acids Res. February 15; 31(4):e12). See also Example 14 for a detailed description.

Generation of ES Mice by Tetraploid Embryo Complementation

The production of mice by tetraploid embryo complementation using genetically modified ES cells was essentially performed as described (Eggan et al., PNAS 98:6209-6214; J. Seibler et al. (2003), Nucleic Acids Res. February 15; 31(4):e12; Hogan et al. (1994), Summary of mouse development, Manipulating the Mouse Embryo, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor N.Y., pp. 253-289).

Example 4: Silencing of the Mouse Lambda Light Chain Locus

This example describes the silencing of the mouse endogenous lambda light chain locus. The endogenous lambda locus is modified by homologous recombination in ES cells followed by the introduction of genetically modified ES cells in mouse embryos to obtain genetically adapted offspring.

Two regions of the murine lambda locus that together contain all functional lambda V regions are subject to deletion.

The first region targeted for homologous recombination-based deletion is a region that is located 408 bp upstream of the start site of the IGLV2 gene segment and ends 215 bp downstream of IGLV3 gene segment, including the intergenic sequence stretch between these IGLV gene segments. The second region that is subject to a deletion involves the IGLV1 gene segment consisting of a fragment spanning from 392 bp upstream to 171 bp downstream of the IGLV1 gene segment. As a consequence of these two deletion steps, all functional V-lambda genes segments are deleted, rendering the locus functionally inactive (FIGS. 5 and 19A-B).

Construction of the Targeting Vectors

Vectors that received 3-9.6 kb flanking arms on the 3′ and 5′ end fused to the deletion segment were used for targeted homologous recombination in an ES cell line. Both arms were obtained by PCR means ensuring maximum homology. In a first step, the mouse genomic sequence encompassing the Igl V2-V3 regions were replaced with a PuroR cassette flanked by F3 sites, which yields a constitutive KO allele after Flp-mediated removal of selection marker (see FIG. 19A). In a second step, the mouse genomic sequence encompassing the Igl V1 region was replaced with a Neo cassette in ES cell clones which already carried a deletion of the Igl V2-V3 regions (see FIG. 19B). The selection marker (NeoR) was flanked by FRT sites. A constitutive KO allele was obtained after Flp-mediated removal of selection markers.

Generation of ES Cells Bearing the Deleted Lambda Fragment

The generation of genetically modified ES cells was essentially performed as described (J. Seibler, B. Zevnik, B. KUter-Luks, S. Andreas, H. Kern, T. Hennek, A. Rode, C. Heimann, N. Faust, G. Kauselmann, M. Schoor, R. Jaenisch, K. Rajewsky, R. Kuhn, F. Schwenk (2003), Nucleic Acids Res., February 15; 31(4):e12). See also, Example 14 for a detailed description. To show that both targeting events occurred on the same chromosome several double targeted clones were selected for the in vitro deletion with pCMV C31deltaCpG. The clones were expanded under antibiotic pressure on a mitotically inactivated feeder layer comprised of mouse embryonic fibroblasts in DMEM High Glucose medium containing 20% FCS (PAN) and 1200μ/mL Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (Millipore ESG 1107). 1×10⁷ cells from each clone were electroporated with 20 μg of circular pCMV C31deltaCpG at 240 V and 500 μF and plated on four 10 cm dishes each. Two to three days after electroporation, cells were harvested and analyzed by PCR. Primers used were:

(SEQ ID NO: 1) 20055: CCCTTTCCAATCTTTATGGG  (SEQ ID NO: 2) 20057: AGGTGGATTGGTGTCTTTTTCTC  (SEQ ID NO: 3) 20059: GTCATGTCGGCGACCCTACGCC 

PCR reactions were performed in mixtures comprising 5 μl PCR Buffer 10x (Invitrogen), 2 μl MgCl₂ (50 mM), 1 μl dNTPs (10 mM), 1 μl first primer (5 μM), 1 μl second primer (5 μM), 0.4 μl Taq (5 U/ul, Invitrogen), 37.6 μl H₂O, and 2 μl DNA. The program used was 95° C. for five minutes; followed by 35 cycles of 95° C. for 30 seconds; 60° C. for 30 seconds; 72° C. for 1 minute; followed by 72° C. for ten minutes.

Generation of ES Mice by Tetraploid Embryo Complementation

The production of mice by tetraploid embryo complementation using genetically modified ES cells was essentially performed as described (Eggan et al., PNAS 98:6209-6214; J. Seibler, B. Zevnik, B. Kiiter-Luks, S. Andreas, H. Kern, T. Hennek, A. Rode, C. Heimann, N. Faust, G. Kauselmann, M. Schoor, R. Jaenisch, K. Rajewsky, R. Kuhn, and F. Schwenk (2003), Nucleic Acids Res., February 15; 31(4):e12; Hogan et al. (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor N.Y.), pp. 253-289).

Example 5: Construction of the CAGGS Expression Insert Based on a Rearranged Human Germline IGKV1-39/J-Ck Gene (IGKV1-39/J-Ck)

This example describes the construction of a CAGGS expression cassette incorporating the rearranged human germline IGKV1-39/J region. This insert expression cassette encompasses cloning sites, a Kozak sequence, a leader sequence containing an intron, an open reading frame of the rearranged IGKV1-39 region, a rat CK constant region from allele a and a translational stop sequence (IGKV1-39/J-Ck; FIG. 6). The primary construct consists of naturally occurring sequences and has been analyzed and optimized by removing undesired cis acting elements like internal TATA-boxes, poly adenylation signals, chi-sites, ribosomal entry sites, AT-rich or GC-rich sequence stretches, ARE-, INS- and CRS sequence elements, repeat sequences, RNA secondary structures, (cryptic) splice donor and acceptor sites and splice branch points (GeneArt GmbH). In addition, the codon usage in the open reading frame regions is optimized for expression in mice. The intron sequence is unchanged and thus represents the sequence identical to the coding part of the human IGKV1-39 leader intron.

At the 5′ end of the expression cassette, a NotI site was introduced and on the 3′ site a NheI site. Both sites are used for cloning in the CAGGS expression module. After gene assembly according to methods used by GeneArt, the insert is digested with NotI-NheI and cloned into the expression module containing a CAGGS promoter, a stopper sequence flanked by LoxP sites (“foxed”), a polyadenylation signal sequence and, at the 5′ and 3′ end, sequences to facilitate homologous recombination into the Rosa26 locus of mouse ES cell lines. Promoter and/or cDNA fragments were amplified by PCR, confirmed by sequencing and/or cloned directly from delivered plasmids into an RMCE exchange vector harboring the indicated features. A schematic drawing and the confirmed sequence of the final targeting vector pCAGGS-IgVK1-39 are shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B. The targeting strategy is depicted in FIG. 13C.

Example 6: CAGGS Expression Insert Based on the Rearranged Germline IGLV2-14/J V Lambda Region (IGLV2-14/J-Ck)

This example describes the sequence and insertion of an expression cassette incorporating the rearranged germline IGLV2-14/J V lambda region. This insert encompasses cloning sites, a Kozak sequence, a leader sequence containing an intron, an open reading frame of the rearranged IGLV2-14/J region, a rat CK constant region from allele a and a translational stop sequence (IGLV2-14/J-Ck; FIG. 7). The primary construct consists of naturally-occurring sequences and has been analyzed and optimized by removing undesired cis acting elements like: internal TATA-boxes, poly adenylation signals, chi-sites, ribosomal entry sites, AT-rich or GC-rich sequence stretches, ARE-, INS- and CRS sequence elements, repeat sequences, RNA secondary structures, (cryptic) splice donor and acceptor sites and splice branch points (GeneArt GmbH). In addition, the codon usage in the open reading frame regions was optimized for expression in mice. The intron sequence is unchanged and thus represents the sequence identical to the human IGKV1-39 leader intron.

At the 5′ end of the expression cassette, a NotI site was introduced and on the 3′ site a NheI site. Both sites are used for cloning in the CAGGS expression module as described by TaconicArtemis. After gene assembly according to methods used by GeneArt, the insert was digested with NotI-NheI and cloned into the expression module containing a CAGGS promoter, a stopper sequence flanked by LoxP sites (“foxed”), a polyadenylation signal sequence and, at the 5′ and 3′ end, sequences to facilitate homologous recombination into the Rosa26 locus of mouse ES cell lines. To construct the final ROSA26 RMCE targeting vector, promoter and/or cDNA fragments were amplified by PCR. Amplified products were confirmed by sequencing and/or cloned directly from delivered plasmids into an RMCE exchange vector harboring the indicated features. A schematic drawing and the confirmed sequence of the final targeting vector pCAGGS-IgVL2-14 is shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B. The targeting strategy is depicted in FIG. 15C.

Example 7: Expression of IGKV1-39/J-Ck in HEK293 Cell Lines (pSELECT-IGKV1-39/J-Ck)

This example describes a method to verify that the IGKV1-39/J-Ck constructs described in Example 5 enable expression and detection of the IGKV1-39/J-Ck L chain in HEK293 cells. The IGKV1-39/J insert (FIG. 6) was modified at the 5′ end by changing the NotI site into a SalI site. This change is required for cloning of the product into the expression cassette plasmid pSELECT-hygro (InvivoGen). The CAGGS expression insert IGKV1-39/J-Ck and pSELECT-hygro were digested with SalI and NheI, ligated and used to transform competent XL1-Blue cells using standard techniques. Colonies were picked and DNA purified using Qiagen Midi-prep columns according to the manufacturer's procedures. The resulting light chain (LC) expressing vector named 0817676pSELECT 0815426 was used to transfect HEK293 cells with Fugene6 (Roche) according to the manufacturer's protocols. Supernatants were screened for the presence of IGKV1-39/J-Ck light chains by ELISA and western blot using anti-rat-Ck antibodies (Beckton Dickinson #550336 and 553871) and protocols used in the art.

The VH of anti-tetanus toxoid (TT) IgG MG1494 was cloned into IgG expression vector MV1056 using restriction sites SfiI and BstEII. The resulting clone was sequence verified. HEK293T cells were transfected with five different vector combinations as shown in Table 4 (see Example 8 for details of vector 0817678_pSELECT_0815427). Supernatants were harvested and IgG concentrations determined (see Table 4). No IgG could be detected for supernatants A and B containing light chain only as expected (detection antibody recognized Fc part of IgG). IgG concentration in supernatants C and D was comparable to that of positive control supernatant E, indicating correct expression of the light chain constructs.

Binding to TT was analyzed by ELISA to check functionality of the produced antibodies, using hemoglobin as negative control antigen. No TT-specific binding could be detected for supernatants A and B containing light chain only, as expected. TT-specific binding for supernatants C and D was at least as good as for positive control supernatant E, confirming correct expression of the light chain constructs and functional assembly with heavy chain. Antibodies were detected not only using an anti-human IgG secondary antibody, but also an anti-rat Ckappa light chain secondary antibody. The results confirm that the anti-rat Ckappa antibody (BD Pharmingen #553871, clone MRK-1) recognizes the light chain expressed by the pSELECT vectors.

Supernatants were analyzed by non-reducing SDS-PAGE and Western blot (not shown). Detection using an anti-human IgG heavy chain antibody did not show bands for supernatants A and B containing light chain only, as expected. Results for supernatants C and D were comparable to positive control supernatant E, with a band close to the 170 kD marker as expected for intact IgG. Additional lower molecular weight bands were observed as well for supernatants C, D and E, which might represent degradation products, IgG fragments resulting from (partial) reduction and/or irrelevant protein bands due to non-specific binding of the detection antibody.

Detection using an anti-rat Ckappa light chain antibody showed a band close to the 26 kD marker for supernatants A and B, as expected for light chain only. This band was much more intense for A compared to B, indicating that the free IGKV1-39 light chain may be better expressed and/or more stable than the free IGLV2-14 light chain. No bands were detected for control supernatant E as expected, since the expressed IgG contains a human Ckappa light chain. For supernatants C and D, expected bands close to the 170 kD marker were observed; lower molecular weight bands were also observed, but to a lesser extent than above using the anti-human IgG antibody.

In conclusion, transfection of the light chain expression constructs combined with the heavy chain of anti-tetanus toxoid (TT) IgG MG1494 resulted in IgG production comparable to the positive control construct for both the pSELECT kappa and lambda light chain constructs. Both IgG productions yielded ELISA signals in a TT ELISA that were better than or comparable to the control IgG. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of intact IgG. The tested anti-rat Ckappa antibody worked efficiently in both ELISA and Western blot. Culture supernatant from cells transfected with light chain constructs only did not result in detectable IgG production nor in detectable TT-specific binding, while free light chain was detected on Western blot.

Example 8: Expression of IGLV2-14/J-Ck in HEK293 Cell Lines (pSELECT-IGLV2-14/J-Ck)

This example describes a method to verify that the IGLV2-14/J constructs described in Example 6 enable expression and detection of the IGLV2-14/J-Ck L chain in HEK293 cells. The IGLV2-14/J-Ck insert (FIG. 7) was modified at the 5′ end by changing the NotI site into a SalI site. This change is required for cloning of the product into the expression cassette plasmid pSELECT-hygro (InvivoGen). The CAGGS expression insert IGLV2-14/J-Ck and pSELECT-hygro were digested with SalI and NheI ligated and used to transform competent XL1-Blue cells using standard techniques. Colonies were picked and DNA purified using Qiagen Midi-prep columns according to the manufacturer's procedures. The resulting light chain (LC) expressing vector named 0817678pSELECT 0815427 was used to transfect HEK293 cells with Fugene6 (Roche) according to the manufacturer's protocols. Supernatants were screened for the presence of IGLV2-14/J-Ck light chains by ELISA and western blot using anti-rat-Ck antibodies (Becton Dickinson #550336 and 553871) and protocols used in the art. See Example 7 for details and results.

Example 9: Construction of a VK Promoter-Driven Expression Construct Containing an IGKV1-39/J Insert and Multiple Enhancer Elements Derived from the Murine CK Locus (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck; VkP-O12)

This example describes the construction of an expression cassette that contains relevant elements to enable B-cell and developmental/differentiation stage-specific expression of the rearranged human IGKV1-39 VK region, based on the IGKV1-39 VK promoter region, leader containing an intron, germline V-gene, CDR3, IGKJ segment, mouse intergenic region located between Jk and CK, rat Ck allele a open reading frame, and a mouse intergenic fragment from the 3′ end of the mouse CK gene ending just 3′ of the 3′ CK enhancer.

Optimized open reading frames of the leader, IGKV1-39 rearranged gene, and rat CK allele a gene, as described in Example 5, was used for the construction of the expression cassette. The VK promoter region was obtained by gene synthesis procedures (GeneArt, GmbH) and is almost identical to the sequence of the human IGKV1-39 region between −500 bp and the ATG (start site) of the gene. The only deviation from the natural sequence is the introduction of a GCCACCATGG Kozak sequence (SEQ ID NO:102) at the ATG (start) site in order to promote translation. A genomic fragment from a mouse BAC clone (TaconicArtemis) is used as the basis for the introduction of individual elements. This fragment is identical to the sequence of the mouse VK locus starting with the intron donor site located directly 3′ of the JK5 region and ending just 3′ of the 3′ CK enhancer and covers approximately 12.5 kb.

The final construct contains from 5′ to 3′ end the following elements: human genomic IGKV1-39 promoter (500 bp), a Kozak sequence, a human IGKV1-39 leader part 1 (optimized), a human IGKV1-39 leader intron, a human IGKV1-39 leader part 2 (optimized), a human IGKV1-39 germline gene (optimized), a human J-region (optimized), a mouse intergenic region including the intron enhancer element, a rat (Rattus norvegicus) kappa constant region (optimized), and a mouse intergenic region including the 3′ kappa enhancer. The elements of this expression cassette are shown in FIG. 8 and named VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck (VkP-O12). An outline of the pVkP-O12 vector and the targeting strategy is depicted in FIGS. 20A and 21A. The vector was introduced into ES cells following standard procedures (see Example 14).

Example 10: Construction of a VK Promoter-Driven Expression Construct Containing an IGLV2-14/J Clone and Multiple CK Locus-Derived Enhancer Elements (VkP-IGLVL2-14/J-Ck; VkP-2a2)

This example describes the same construct as described in Example 9, except that the IGKV1-39 gene and J-region are replaced by the optimized human IGLV2-14 germline gene including a unique V-J region (VkP-IGLV2-14/J-Ck; VkP-2a2; FIG. 9).

Example 11: Construction of a VK Promoter-Driven Expression Construct Containing an IGKV1-39 Clone Lacking the CK Intron Enhancer Element (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-Δ1; VkP-O12-del1)

The construct described in Example 9 was modified by removing the CK intron enhancer element, located in the intergenic region between the human J region and the rat CK region by standard PCR modification and DNA cloning methodologies (GeneArt, GmBH). The resulting expression cassette is shown in FIG. 10 and named VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-Δ1 (VkP-O12-del1).

An outline of the pVkP-O12-del1 vector and the targeting strategy is depicted in FIGS. 20B and 21B. The vector was introduced into ES cells following standard procedures (see Example 14).

Example 12: Construction of a VK Promoter-Driven Expression Construct Containing an IGKV1-39 Clone Lacking the CK Intron Enhancer Element and a Truncated 3′ CK Enhancer Element (VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-Δ2; VkP-O12-De12)

The construct described in Example 11 was modified by truncating the 3′ CK enhancer element and deleting part of the intergenic region 3′ of the rat Ck gene, to remove potential inhibitory elements. This was achieved by removing the intergenic sequence between an EcoRV site (located 3′ of the rat Ck gene) and the NcoI site present in the 3′ enhancer (5993 bp) and further removing the sequence between the 3′ enhancer BstXI site and the BstXI site 3′ of the 3′ enhancer (474 bp) using standard methods. The resulting expression cassette is shown in FIG. 11 and named VkP-IGKV1-39/J-Ck-Δ2 (VkP-O12-de12).

An outline of the pVkP-O12-de12 vector and the targeting strategy is depicted in FIGS. 20C and 21C. The vector was introduced into ES cells following standard procedures (see Example 14).

Example 13: Expression of Vk Constructs in Cell Lines

The constructs described in Examples 9-12 are tested for their ability to produce light chain proteins in the myeloma cell lines MPC11 (ATCC CCL167), B-cell lymphoma WEHI231 (ATCC CRL-1702), the T-cell lymphoma EL4 (ATCC TIB-39) and in HEK293 (ATCC CRL1573). The enhancer and promoter elements in the construct enable expression in the B-cell lines but not in cell lines derived from other tissues. After transfection of the cell lines using purified linearized DNA and Fugene6 (Roche) cells are cultured for transient expression. Cells and supernatant are harvested and subjected to SDS-PAGE analysis followed by western blotting using a specific anti-rat-C-kappa antibody. Supernatants are analyzed in ELISA for secreted L chains using the anti-rat CK antibody (Beckton Dickinson #550336).

Example 14: Generation of Transgenic ES Lines

All constructs as described in Examples 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 were used to generate individual stable transgenic ES lines by means of homologous recombination. The methods for generation of transgenic ES lines via homologous recombination are known in the field (e.g., Eggan et al., PNAS 98:6209-6214; J. Seibler, B. Zevnik, B. KUter-Luks, S. Andreas, H. Kern, T. Hennek, A. Rode, C. Heimann, N. Faust, G. Kauselmann, M. Schoor, R. Jaenisch, K. Rajewsky, R. Kuhn, F. Schwenk (2003), Nucleic Acids Res., February 15; 31(4):e12; Hogan et al. (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor N.Y.), pp. 253-289).

For all constructs described in Examples 5 and 6, and Examples 9-12, the RMCE ES cell line (derived from mouse strain 129S6B6F1-Gt(ROSA)26Sortml0Arte) was grown on a mitotically inactivated feeder layer comprised of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) in DMEM High Glucose medium containing 15% FBS (PAN 1302-P220821). Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (Chemicon ESG 1107) was added to the medium at a concentration of 900 U/mL. For manipulation, 2×10⁵ ES-cells were plated on 3.5 cm dishes in 2 ml medium. Directly before transfection, 2 ml fresh medium was added to the cells. Three μl Fugene6 Reagent (Roche; Catalog No. 1 814 443) was mixed with 100 μl serum free medium (OptiMEM I with Glutamax I; Invitrogen; Catalog No. 51985-035) and incubated for five minutes. One hundred μl of the Fugene/OptiMEM solution was added to 2 μg circular vector and 2 CAGGS-Flp and incubated for 20 minutes. This transfection complex was added dropwise to the cells and mixed. Fresh medium was added to the cells the following day. From day 2 onwards, the medium was replaced daily with medium containing 250 μg/mL G418 (Geneticin; Invitrogen; Catalog No. 10131-019). Seven days after transfection, single clones were isolated, expanded, and molecular analyzed by Southern blotting according to standard procedures.

For each construct, analysis of multiple clones by restriction enzyme digestion of genomic DNA of single clones followed by hybridization with 5′ probes, 3′ probes, and internal probes resulted in clones that comprised a correct, single insertion at the correct position in the Rosa26 locus. An example is provided in FIGS. 14A-C.

Example 15: Generation of Transgenic Mouse Strains

All ES cell lines that were generated and verified for their modifications as described in Example 14 were used to generate stable transgenic mice by means of tetraploid recombination. The methods are known in the field. In general, after administration of hormones, superovulated Balb/c females were mated with Balb/c males. Blastocysts were isolated from the uterus at dpc 3.5. For microinjection, blastocysts were placed in a drop of DMEM with 15% FCS under mineral oil. A flat tip, piezo actuated microinjection-pipette with an internal diameter of 12-15 micrometers was used to inject 10-15 targeted C57BL/6 N.tac ES cells into each blastocyst. After recovery, injected blastocysts were transferred to each uterine horn of 2.5 days post coitum, pseudopregnant NMRI females. Chimerism was measured in chimeras (G0) by coat color contribution of ES cells to the Balb/c host (black/white). Highly chimeric mice were bred to strain C57BL/6 females. Depending on the project requirements, the C57BL/6 mating partners are non-mutant (W) or mutant for the presence of a recombinase gene (Flp-Deleter or Cre-deleter or CreER inducible deleter or combination of Flp-deleter/CreER). Germline transmission was identified by the presence of black, strain C57BL/6, offspring (G1).

For example, ESC clone IgVK1-39 2683 8 (see Examples 5 and 14) was injected in a total of 62 blastocysts in three independent experiments. Three litters were obtained with a total of six pups. All pups were chimeric. Three heterozygous offspring pups were obtained that were used for further crossing.

ESC Clone Kappa 2692 A-C10 (see Examples 3 and 14) was injected in a total of 54 blastocysts in three independent experiments. Three litters were obtained with a total of eleven pups, of which ten were chimeric. Eight heterozygous offspring pups were obtained that were used for further crossing.

ESC Clone Kappa 2692 B-C1 (see Examples 3 and 14) was injected in a total of 51 blastocysts in three independent experiments. Two litters were obtained with a total of six pups, of which four were chimeric. Three heterozygous offspring pups were obtained that were used for further crossing.

Example 16: Breeding

This example describes the breeding for obtaining mice that contain transgenic expression cassettes as described Example 14 and knock-out mice in which the endogenous lambda and kappa loci have been silenced. The localization of V-lambda on chromosome 16 and CD19 on chromosome 7 allow standard breeding procedures. The breeding of the co-localized Vk locus and Rosa26 locus on chromosome 6 with a distance of about 24 cM requires special attention during the screening as only a percentage of the offspring shows crossover in a way that both modifications are brought together on one chromosome.

All four loci have to be combined in a single mouse strain that is homo- or heterozygous for CD19-cre (not described) and modified Rosa26 transgene and homozygous for the other loci. Breeding is performed by standard breeding and screening techniques as appropriate and offered by commercial breeding companies (e.g., TaconicArtemis).

Example 17: Immunizations of Mice

Primary and booster immunization of mice are performed using standard protocols.

To validate the transgenic expression of human rearranged Vκ O12 (IGKV1-39)—rat Cκ light chains (see Examples 5, 14-16) in B cells from CD19-HuVκ1 mice and to assess its impact on VH repertoire size, diversity of VH family usage and V(D)J recombination after immunization, the CD19-HuVκ1 transgenic mice are immunized with tetanus toxin vaccine (TT vaccine) and VH sequence diversity of randomly picked clones from CD19-HuVκ1 mice are compared with TT-immunized wt mice and CD19-Cre HuVk1 negative littermates. Data on the SHM frequency of the human Vκ O12 transgene in the immunized mice are obtained. A diverse collection of at least 40 TT-specific, clonally-unrelated mAbs containing the human Vκ O12 are recovered from CD19-HuVκ1 mice by phage display.

For this, three adult CD19-HuVκ1 mice are vaccinated with TT vaccine using standard immunization procedures. After immunization, serum titers are measured using TT specific ELISA (TT: Statens Serum Institute, Art. no. 2674) and spleen suspensions subjected to cell sorting by the FACS procedure after staining with a rat Cκ-specific monoclonal antibody to isolate transgenic B cells (clone RG7/9.1; BD Pharmingen#553901, Lot#06548). RNA from rat Cκ-positive B cells are extracted and the resulting cDNA material used for library building and SHM analysis.

The standard monoclonal mouse anti-rat Cκ antibody (clone RG7/9.1; BD Pharmingen#553901, Lot#06548) is used in FACS analysis of transgene expressing B cells (Meyer et al. (1996), Int. Immunol. 8:1561). The clone RG7/9.1 antibody reacts with a monotypic (common) kappa chain determinant. This anti-rat Cκ antibody (clone RG7/9.1 (BD Pharmingen#553901, Lot#06548) is labeled with R-phycoerythrin (PE) using the LYNX rapid conjugation kit according to the manufacturer's instructions for FACS analysis and sorting. The labeled antibody is firstly tested by flow cytometry for binding to rat Cκ-containing functional light chain proteins produced into transiently transfected HEK-293T cells; the un-conjugated antibody serves as a positive control. Two other antibodies shown to bind to rat Cκ by ELISA and Western-blot (see Example 7) are tested as well by flow cytometry.

Fab-phage display library building is carried out with a set of optimized degenerate PCR primers designed to amplify C57BL/6 VH genes; the minimal library size is 10⁶ clones, and minimal insert frequency is 80%. The vector used, MV1043 (FIGS. 3 and 12), contains the human Vκ O12 fused to a human Cκ region. The rat Cκ is therefore exchanged for the human counterpart in the library generation process.

Before selection, VH sequencing of 96 randomly picked clones is performed to validate VH repertoire diversity that is compared to diversity obtained from an unselected library previously generated using the same procedures from BALB/c mice immunized with TT. A library from C57Bl/6 wt mice that are immunized in the same way allows diversity comparison between two preselected libraries sharing the same vaccine and the same genetic background.

Several independent selections are performed on TT coated in immunotubes. Variables that may be included are selections using biotinylated antigens in solution or selections on captured TT. Based on the number and diversity of ELISA-positive clones obtained in the first selections, decisions on additional rounds of selection are made. Clones are considered positive when >3× positive over a negative control clone. Positive clones are analyzed by ELISA against a panel of negative control antigens to verify antigen specificity. The aim is to identify at least 40 unique VH regions, as based on unique CDR3 sequences and V_(H)DJ_(H) rearrangements.

Amplification of the cDNA material from rat CK-positive sorted B cells is performed with a PCR forward primer specific to the human leader sequence and a PCR reverse primer specific to the rat Cκ sequence, in a region not redundant with the mouse Cκ sequence, as reported in a recent study (Brady et al. (2006), JIM 315:61). Primer combinations and annealing temperatures are firstly tested on cDNA from HEK-293T cells transfected with 0817676_pSELECT_0815426=pSELECT vector with IGKV1-39 DNA cassette (see Example 7).

The amplification products is cloned in pJET-1 vector and after XL1-blue transformation, 96 colonies are sequenced for assessing VL SHM frequency by direct comparison to the Vκ O12 (IGKV1-39) germline sequence. The R/S ratio method, as described in our study on human TT-specific antibodies (de Kruif et al. (2009), J. Mol. Biol. 387:548) allows discrimination between random mutations and antigen-driven mutations that occurred on VL sequences.

Example 18: Immunofluorescent Analysis of B Cell Populations in Transgenic Mouse Lines

This example describes the use of antibodies and flow cytometry to analyze B cell populations in primary (bone marrow) and secondary (spleen, peritoneal) lymphoid organs and blood. Methods and reagents are described in Middendorp et al. (2002), J. Immunol. 168:2695; and Middendorp et al. (2004), J. Immunol. 172:1371. For analysis of early B cell development in bone marrow, cells were surface stained with combinations of antibodies (Becton Dickinson) specific for B220, CD19, CD25, IgM, IgD, mouse Ckappa, mouse Clambda and rat Ckappa to detect pro-B cells, pre-B cells, large pre-B cells, early and late immature B cells and recirculating B cell populations expressing the transgene on their surface. DAPI staining (Invitrogen) was included to exclude dead cells from the analysis and FC block (Becton Dickinson) to inhibit antibody interaction with Fc receptors on myeloid cells. For analysis of surface transgene expression on B cell populations in peripheral lymphoid organs and blood, cells were stained with combinations of antibodies (Becton Dickinson) specific for B220, CD5, CD19, CD21, CD23, IgM, IgD, mouse Ckappa, mouse Clambda and rat Ckappa. DAPI staining was included to exclude dead cells from the analysis and FC block to inhibit antibody interaction with Fc receptors on myeloid cells. In addition, combinations of antibodies (Becton Dickinson) specific for CD3, CD4, CD11b, CD11c and NK1.1 were included to determine if transgene expression occurred in cell types outside of the B cell compartment.

Three mice heterozygous for the human IGKV1-39/rat Ckappa transgene and heterozygous for the CD19-Cre transgene on a C57BL6 background (HuVk1/CD19-Cre) were analyzed. As controls for the FACS analysis, three littermate mice wild-type for the human IGKV1-39/rat Ckappa transgene and heterozygous for the CD19-Cre transgene on a C57BL6 background (CD19-Cre) and two C57BL6/NTac mice (Wt) were included. All animals were allowed to acclimatize in the animal facility for one week before analysis and all mice were male and six weeks of age. Lymphocytes were isolated from the femurs, spleens, peritoneal cavity and blood of mice using conventional techniques as previously described (Middendorp et al. (2002), J. Immunol. 168:2695; and Middendorp et al. (2004), J. Immunol. 172:1371). Antibodies were pre-combined as shown in FIG. 29A-B and staining was carried out in 96-well plates. Incubation with the PE-conjugated anti-rat C kappa (described above) was carried out before staining with the rat anti-murine antibodies to avoid non-specific binding. After completion of cell staining, labeled cells were analyzed on a Becton Dickinson LSR II FACS machine and the acquired data analyzed with FlowJo software (v6.4.7).

Transgenic mice were similar in weight, appearance and activity to wild-type mice. No gross anatomical alterations were observed during the harvesting of tissues. No difference was observed in the numbers of B cells in the bone marrow (BM) and spleen (Table 9) or in the numbers of B cells, T cells and myeloid cells in peripheral organs between transgenic and wild-type mice. In addition, the frequency or proportion of the cells in the different lymphocyte developmental pathways was not altered in transgenic mice when compared to wild-type mice. Thus in the double transgenic (HuVk1/CD19-Cre) and transgenic (CD19-Cre) mice lymphoid and most importantly B cell development was indistinguishable from wild-type mice.

In the peripheral lymphoid organs, staining with the transgene specific antibody (anti-ratCkappa-PE) was only observed in the B cell populations. T cell, myeloid cell and NK cell populations were all negative for surface expression of the transgene in the spleen (FIG. 23). In contrast, in cells stained with the pan B cell markers B220 and CD19 all cells were shifted to the right in the FACS plot indicating cell surface expression of the transgene (FIG. 24). A similar transgene-specific staining was measured in CD5⁺ B1 cells of the peritoneum, a developmentally distinct population of B cells (FIG. 25).

Differentiation of B cells from multilineage precursors to mature B cells occurs in the bone marrow. In the lymphocytes analyzed from the bone marrow, extracellular and transgene expression was not detectable in the earliest B cell progenitors the pro- and pre-B cell consistent with the pattern of normal light chain expression (FIGS. 26A-B). Transgene expression first becomes detectable in immature B cells, the developmental stage at which the germline murine light chain undergoes rearrangement and is expressed at the cell surface in the context of the preselected heavy chain (FIGS. 26A-B). Consistent with the staining in the spleen transgenic light chain expression is also detected on mature recirculating B cells (FIGS. 26A-B). Thus the CD19-Cre driven expression of the transgene is consistent with the normal pattern of light chain expression. The staining with the endogenous light chain-specific antibody is more intense than that of the transgene-specific light chain antibody. This may indicate a higher expression level of the endogenous light chain, a more sensitive staining with the endogenous light chain-specific antibody or a combination of both. Importantly, the intensity of the surface expression of the transgenic light chain is correlated with both endogenous light chain and IgM surface expression as observed in staining of circulating B cells in the blood (FIG. 27).

Thus, overall this analysis demonstrates that expression of the human IGKV1-39/Ckappa transgene is restricted to the B cell compartment and the temporal regulation of its expression is similar to the endogenous kappa and lambda light chains resulting in normal development of all B cell populations. The apparent lower level of expression of the transgene could be explained by the strength of the promoter in comparison to the promoter and enhancers present on endogenous light chain genes or by a delay in transgene expression that gives the endogenous light chains a competitive advantage in pairing with the rearranged heavy chain. This is consistent with the observation that as B cells mature the relative intensity of transgene staining increases compared to the endogenous light chains. In addition, the observation that B cells numbers are normal and that every surface Ig+B cell co-expresses an endogenous and transgenic light chain supports the conclusion that the IGKV1-39 variable region is capable of pairing with a normal repertoire of different murine heavy chain variable regions. We conclude from this analysis that insertion of the IGKV1-39/rat Ckappa transgene driven by the CD19-Cre activated CAGGS promoter in the Rosa locus facilitates timely and B cell-specific expression of the transgene and that the transgene is capable of pairing with a normal repertoire of murine heavy chains.

Example 19: Epibase® T-Cell Epitope Profile for IGKV1-39

The protein sequence of IGKV1-39 (FIG. 12, human germline IGKV1-39/J Protein) was scanned for the presence of putative HLA class II restricted epitopes, also known as T_(H)-epitopes. For this, Algonomics' Epibase® platform was applied to IGKV1-39. In short, the platform analyzes the HLA binding specificities of all possible 10-mer peptides derived from a target sequence (Desmet et al. (1992), Nature 356:539-542; Desmet et al. (1997), FASEB J. 11:164-172; Desmet et al. (2002), Proteins 48:31-43; Desmet et al. (2005), Proteins 58:53-69). Profiling is done at the allotype level for 20 DRB1, 7 DRB3/4/5, 13 DQ and 7 DP, i.e., 47 HLA class II receptors in total (see Table 5). Epibase® calculates a quantitative estimate of the free energy of binding ΔG_(bind) of a peptide for each of the 47 HLA class II receptors. These data were then further processed as follows:

Free energies were converted into Kd-values through ΔG_(bind)=RT ln(Kd).

Peptides were classified as strong (S), medium (M), weak and non (N) binders. The following cutoffs were applied:

S: strong binder: Kd<0.1 μM.

M: medium binder: 0.1 μM≤Kd<0.8 μM.

N: weak and non-binder: 0.8 μM≤Kd.

Peptides corresponding to self-peptides were treated separately. The list of self-peptides was taken from 293 antibody germline sequences. They are referred to as “germline-filtered” peptides.

S- and M-peptides are mapped onto the target sequence in so-called epitope maps; S-affinities are plotted quantitatively; M-values are presented qualitatively. As a general overview of the results, Table 6 lists the number of strong and medium binders in the analyzed proteins, for the groups of HLA class II receptors corresponding to the DRB1, DQ, DP and DRB3/4/5 genes. Counting was done separately for strong and medium affinity binders. Peptides binding to multiple allotypes of the same group were counted as one. Values between brackets refer to germline-filtered peptides. In Table 7, the sequence is shown in a format suitable for experimental work. The sequence is broken down in consecutive 15-mers overlapping by 12 residues. For each 15-mer, the promiscuity is listed (the number of allotypes out of a total of 47 for which the 15-mer contains a critical binder), as well as the implied serotypes. The Epibase® profile and epitope maps are shown in FIGS. 16A-C and 17.

It was concluded that IGKV1-39 contains no strong non-self DRB1 binders. Typically, significantly more binders were found for DRB1 than for other HLA genes. This is in agreement with experimental evidence that allotypes belonging to the DRB1 group are more potent peptide binders. Medium strength epitopes for DRB1 allotypes are expected to contribute to the population response, and cannot be disregarded. Again, no non-self DRB1 binders were found in IGKV1-39.

In the humoral response raised against an antigen, the observed T_(H) cell activation/proliferation is generally interpreted in terms of the DRB1 specificity. However, one cannot ignore the possible contribution of the DRB3/4/5, DQ and DP genes. Given the lower expression levels of these genes as compared to DRB1, the focus was on the class of strong epitopes for DRB3/4/5, DQ and DP. “Critical epitopes” are those epitopes that are strong binders for any DRB1, DRB3/4/5, DQ or DP allotype or are medium binders for DRB1. IGKV1-39 contains no strong or medium non-self binders for DRB3/4/5, DQ, or DP.

A number of peptides are also present in germline sequences (values between brackets in Table 6). Such peptides may very well bind to HLA but they are assumed to be self and, hence, non-immunogenic. In total, six strong and 16 medium germline-filtered DRB1 binders were found in IGKV1-39. Framework region 1 up to framework region 3 is an exact match for germline V-segment VKI 2-1-(1) O12 (VBase), a.k.a. IGKV1-39*01 (IMGT). Framework region 4 is an exact match for germline J-segment JK1 (V-base) a.k.a. IGKJ1*01(IMGT). It is hardly surprising that these segments do not contain any non-self epitopes.

Example 20: Production Characteristics of IGKV1-39

There is a great demand for antibody discovery platforms that yield therapeutic antibodies that are thermodynamically stable and give good expression yields. These characteristics are important in ensuring the stability of the drug substance during production and after injection of the drug product into the patient. In addition good expression yields impact directly on the cost of drug manufacture and thus pricing, patient access and profitability. Virtually all therapeutic antibodies in clinical use today are composed of human IgG1 and kappa constant regions but use different heavy and light chain variable regions that confer specificity. Human variable heavy and light chain domains can be divided into families that have greater than 80% sequence divergence. When rearranged examples of these families in germline configuration are combined and compared for stability and yield it is clear that the gene families are not equal in terms of biophysical properties. In particular V_(H)3, V_(H)1 and V_(H)5 have favourable stability for the heavy chains and Vk1 and Vk3 have the best stability and yield of light chains. In addition when mutations are introduced as part of the somatic hypermutation process they can interfere with V_(H)/V_(L) pairing. To assess the effect that different light chain genes with different rates of mutation have on the production characteristics of a fixed V_(H) chain, a Fab phage display library was built of light chains (kappa and lambda) from six naïve healthy donors combined with a panel of 44 TT binding heavy chains from immunized donors. After one round of selection TT binding Fab clones were isolated. Several of these shared the same V_(H) gene as the TT clone PG1433 in combination with different light chains. The Fab light chain fragments were recloned into a kappa expression vector and transfected in combination with DNA encoding the heavy chain of PG1433 into 293 cells and specific IgG production measured by ELISA. As demonstrated in Table 8 the selected clones containing PG1433 V_(H) combined with different light chains had between five- and ten-fold lower protein expression PG1433 V_(H) combined with IGKV1-39. Note that all of the light chains contained amino acid mutations within their coding regions that might disrupt V_(H) paring and reduce production stability. Thus, in addition to reducing the chances of unwanted immunogenicity, it is expected that the use of the light chain IGKV1-39 without mutations contributes to improved production stability and yields of various specificity-contributing V_(H) genes. Indeed stable clones generated by the transfection of different V_(H) genes all paired with IGKV1-39 are able to be passaged extensively and still retain robust production characteristics as shown in Table 9 FIG. 28.

Example 21: Generation of Mice Expressing Fully Human VH and VL Regions

Transgenic mice described herein are crossed with mice that already contain a human VH locus. Examples of appropriate mice comprising a human VH locus are disclosed in Taylor et al. (1992), Nucleic Acids Res. 20:6287-95; Lonberg et al. (1994), Nature 368:856-9; Green et al. (1994), Nat. Genet. 7:13-21; Dechiara et al. (2009), Methods Mol. Biol. 530:311-24.).

After crossing and selecting for mice that are at least heterozygous for the IGKV1-39 transgene and the human VH locus, selected mice are immunized with a target. VH genes are harvested as described hereinabove. This method has the advantage that the VH genes are already fully human and thus do not require humanization.

Example 22: Isolation, Characterization, Oligoclonics Formatting and Production of Antibodies Targeting Human IL6 for Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Such as Rheumatoid Arthritis

A spleen VH repertoire from transgenic mice that are immunized with human recombinant IL6 is cloned in a phage display Fab vector with a single human IGKV1-39-C kappa light chain (identical to the mouse transgene) and subjected to panning against the immunogen human IL6. Clones that are obtained after two to four rounds of panning are analyzed for their binding specificity. VH genes encoding IL6-specific Fab fragments are subjected to sequence analysis to identify unique clones and assign VH, DH and JH utilization. The Fab fragments are reformatted as IgG1 molecules and transiently expressed. Unique clones are then grouped based on non-competition in binding assays and subjected to affinity and functional analysis. The most potent anti-IL6 IgG1 mAbs are subsequently expressed as combinations of two, three, four or five heavy chains comprising different VH-regions in the Oligoclonics format, together with one IGKV1-39-C-based kappa light chain and tested in vitro for complex formation with IL-6. The Oligoclonics are also tested in vivo for clearance of human IL-6 from mice. An Oligoclonic with the most potent clearance activity is chosen and the murine VH genes humanized according to conventional methods. The humanized IgG1 are transfected into a mammalian cell line to generate a stable clone. An optimal subclone is selected for the generation of a master cell bank and the generation of clinical trial material.

Many of the protocols described here are standard protocols for the construction of phage display libraries and the panning of phages for binding to an antigen of interest and are described, for example, in Antibody Phage Display: Methods and Protocols (2002), Editor(s) Philippa M. O'Brien, Robert Aitken, Humana Press, Totowa, N.J., USA.

Immunizations

Transgenic mice receive three immunizations with human IL6 every two weeks using the adjuvant Sigma titerMax according to manufacturer's instructions.

RNA Isolation and cDNA Synthesis

Three days after the last immunization, spleens and lymphnodes from the mice are removed and passed through a 70 micron filter into a tube containing PBS pH 7.4 to generate a single cell suspension. After washing and pelleting of lymphocytes, cells are suspended in TRIzol LS Reagent (Invitrogen) for the isolation of total RNA according to the manufacturer's protocol and subjected to reverse transcription reaction using 1 microgram of RNA, Superscript III RT in combination with dT20 according to manufacturer's procedures (Invitrogen).

The generation of Fab phage display libraries is carried out as described in Example 2.

Selection of Phages on Coated Immunotubes

Human recombinant IL6 is dissolved in PBS in a concentration of 5 μg/ml and coated to MAXISORP™ Nunc-Immuno Tube (Nunc 444474) overnight at 4° C. After discarding the coating solution, the tubes are blocked with 2% skim milk (ELK) in PBS (blocking buffer) for one hour at Room Temperature (RT). In parallel, 0.5 ml of the phage library is mixed with 1 ml blocking buffer and incubated for 20 minutes at room temperature. After blocking the phages, the phage solution is added to the IL6-coated tubes and incubated for two hours at RT on a slowly rotating platform to allow binding. Next, the tubes are washed ten times with PBS/0.05% TWEEN™-20 detergent followed by phage elution by incubating with 1 ml 50 mM glycine-HCl pH 2.2 ten minutes at RT on rotating wheel and directly followed by neutralization of the harvested eluent with 0.5 ml 1 M Tris-HCl pH 7.5.

Harvesting Phage Clones

A 5 ml XL1-Blue MRF (Stratagene) culture at O.D. 0.4 is added to the harvested phage solution and incubated for 30 minutes at 37° C. without shaking to allow infection of the phages. Bacteria are plated on Carbenicillin/Tetracycline 4% glucose 2*TY plates and grown overnight at 37° C.

Phage Production

Phages are grown and processed as described by Kramer et al. 2003 (Kramer et al. 2003, Nucleic Acids Res. 31(11):e59) using VCSM13 as helper phage strain.

Phage ELISA

ELISA plates are coated with 100 microliters human recombinant IL6 per well at a concentration of 2.5 micrograms/ml in PBS overnight at 4° C. Plates coated with 100 microliters thyroglobulin at a concentration of 2 micrograms/ml in PBS are used as a negative control. Wells are emptied, dried by tapping on a paper towel, filled completely with PBS-4% skimmed milk (ELK) and incubated for one hour at room temperature to block the wells. After discarding the block solution, phage minipreps pre-mixed with 50 μl blocking solution are added and incubated for one hour at RT. Unbound phages are subsequently removed by five washing steps with PBS-0.05% Tween-20. Bound phages are detected by incubating the wells with 100 microliters anti-M13-HRP antibody conjugate (diluted 1/5000 in blocking buffer) for one hour at room temperature. Free antibody is removed by repeating the washing steps as described above, followed by TMB substrate incubation until color development was visible. The reaction is stopped by adding 100 microliters of 2 M H2SO4 per well and analyzed on an ELISA reader at 450 nm emission wavelength.

Sequencing

Clones that give signals at least three times above the background signal are propagated, used for DNA miniprep procedures (see procedures Qiagen miniPrep manual) and subjected to nucleotide sequence analysis. Sequencing is performed according to the Big Dye 1.1 kit accompanying manual (Applied Biosystems) using a reverse primer (CH1_Rev1, Table 1) recognizing a 5′ sequence of the CH1 region of the human IgG1 heavy chain (present in the Fab display vector MV1043, FIGS. 3 and 12). The sequences of the murine VH regions are analyzed for diversity of DH and JH gene segments.

Construction and Expression of Chimeric IgG1

Vector MV1057 (FIGS. 12 and 22) was generated by cloning the transgene (IGKV1-39) L chain fragment into a derivative of vector pcDNA3000Neo (Crucell, Leiden, The Netherlands) that contains the human IgG1- and kappa constant regions. VH regions are cloned into MV1057 and nucleotide sequences for all constructs are verified according to standard techniques. The resulting constructs are transiently expressed in HEK293T cells and supernatants containing chimeric IgG1 are obtained and purified using standard procedures as described before (M. Throsby 2006, J. Virol. 80:6982-92).

IgG1 Binding and Competition Analysis

IgG1 antibodies are titrated in ELISA using IL6-coated plates as described above and an anti-human IgG peroxidase conjugate. Competition ELISAs to group antibodies based on epitope recognition are performed by incubating Fab phages together with IgG1 or with commercial antibodies against IL6 (e.g., Abcam cat. no. ab9324) in IL6-coated plates, followed by detection of bound Fab phage using an anti-M13 peroxidase conjugate.

IgG1 Affinity Measurements

The affinities of the antibodies to IL6 are determined with the Quantitative kinetic protocol on the Octet (ForteBio). Antibodies are captured onto an Anti-Human IgG Fc Capture biosensor and exposed to free IL6 and analyzed using proprietary software to calculate the Kd of each antibody.

Functional Activity of IL6 Antibodies

To test the ability of the selected antibodies to inhibit binding between IL6 and IL6 receptor (IL6R), an ELISA based assay is used. Various concentrations of antibody are mixed with a fixed concentration (10 ng/ml) of biotinylated IL6 as described by Naoko et al. 2007, Can. Res. 67:817-875. The IL6-antibody immune complex is added to immobilized IL6R. The binding of biotinylated IL6 to IL6R is detected with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated streptavidin. The reduction of ELISA signal is a measurement of inhibition. As positive control for inhibition of binding between IL6 and IL6R either anti-IL6R antibody (Abcam cat. no. ab34351; clone B-R6) or anti IL6 antibody (Abcam cat. no. ab9324) is used.

In vitro blocking activity of the selected anti-IL6 antibodies is measured in a proliferation assay using the IL6-dependent cell line 7TD1. Briefly, cells are incubated with different concentrations of human IL6 with or without the anti-IL6 antibody. The available amount of IL6 determines the degree of proliferation. Thus if an added antibody blocks IL6 binding the proliferation readout is reduced compared to a non binding antibody control. Proliferation is measured by the incorporation of 5-bromo-2′-deoxy-uridine (BrdU) into the DNA using the BrdU proliferation kit (Roche cat. no. 11444611001) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Generation of Anti-IL6 Oligoclonics

The most potent anti-IL6 antibodies are selected from each epitope group. The expression constructs expressing these antibodies are transfected into HEK293T cells in non-competing groups of three in different ratios (1:1:1; 3:1:1; 1:3:1; 1:1:3; 3:3:1; 1:3:3; 3:1:3; 10:1:1; 1:10:1; 1:1:10; 10:10:1; 1:10:10; 10:1:10; 3:10:1; 10:3:1; 1:10:3; 3:1:10; 10:1:3; 1:3:10). Antibody containing supernatants are harvested and purified and characterized as above.

Complex Formation and In Vivo Clearance of Anti-IL6 Oligoclonics

To measure the ability of anti-IL6 Oligoclonics to form immune complexes and to analyze these complexes Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) is used according to the approach disclosed by Min-Soo Kim et al. (2007), JMB 374:1374-1388, to characterize the immune-complexes formed with different antibodies to TNFα. Different molar ratios of the anti-IL6 Oligoclonics are mixed with human IL6 and incubated for 20 hours at 4° C. or 25° C. The mixture is analyzed on an HPLC system fitted with a size exclusion column; different elution times are correlated to molecular weight using a molecular weight standards.

The ability of antibodies to form complexes with IL6 is correlated with their ability to rapidly clear the cytokine from the circulation in vivo. This is confirmed by measuring the clearance of radiolabelled IL6 from mice. Briefly, female, six- to eight-week-old Balb/c mice are obtained and 18 hours before the experiment, the animals are injected intravenously (IV) via the lateral tail vein with different doses of purified anti-IL6 Oligoclonics. On day 0, the mice are injected IV with 50 microliters of radiolabeled IL-6 (1×10E7 cpm/mL) under the same conditions. Blood samples (approximately 50 microliters) are collected at several time intervals and stored at 4° C. The samples are centrifuged for five minutes at 4000×g and the radioactivity of the serum determined. All pharmacokinetic experiments are performed simultaneously with three animals for each treatment.

Generation of Anti-IL6 Oligoclonics Stable Clones and Preclinical Development

A lead anti-IL6 Oligoclonic is selected based on the in vitro and in vivo potency as determined above. The murine VH genes are humanized according to standard methods and combined with the fully human IGKV1-39 light chain in an expression vector as described above. Examples of humanization methods include those based on paradigms such as resurfacing (E. A. Padlan et al. (1991), Mol. Immunol. 28:489), superhumanization (P. Tan, D. A., et al. (2002), J. Immunol. 169:1119) and human string content optimization (G. A. Lazar et al. (2007), Mol. Immunol. 44:1986). The three constructs are transfected into PER.C6 cells at the predetermined optimal ratio (described above) under the selective pressure of G418 according to standard methods. A stable high producing anti-IL6 Oligoclonic clone is selected and a working and qualified master cell bank generated.

TABLE 1  List of primers DO- Primer Sequence 0012 CH1_Rev1 TGCCAGGGGGAAGACCGATG (SEQ ID NO: 4) 0656 MVH-1 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTRMAGCTTCAGGAGTCAGGAC (SEQ ID NO: 5) 0657 MVH-2 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTSCAGCTKCAGCAGTCAGGAC (SEQ ID NO: 6) 0658 MVH-3 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTGCAGCTGAAGSASTCAGG (SEQ ID NO: 7) 0659 MVH-4 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGCAGCTTCAGGAGTCSGGAC (SEQ ID NO: 8) 0660 MVH-5 GCCGGCCATGGCCGARGTCCAGCTGCAACAGTCYGGAC (SEQ ID NO: 9) 0661 MVH-6 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTCCAGCTKCAGCAATCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 10) 0662 MVH-7 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGSTBCAGCTGCAGCAGTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 11) 0663 MVH-8 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTYCAGCTGCAGCAGTCTGGRC (SEQ ID NO: 12) 0664 MVH-9 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTYCAGCTYCAGCAGTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 13) 0665 MVH-10 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTCCARCTGCAACAATCTGGACC (SEQ ID NO: 14) 0666 MVH-11 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTCCACGTGAAGCAGTCTGGG (SEQ ID NO: 15) 0667 MVH-12 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGAASSTGGTGGAATCTG (SEQ ID NO: 16) 0668 MVH-13 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAVGTGAAGYTGGTGGAGTCTG (SEQ ID NO: 17) 0669 MVH-14 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGCAGSKGGTGGAGTCTGGGG (SEQ ID NO: 18) 0670 MVH-15 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAKGTGCAMCTGGTGGAGTCTGGG (SEQ ID NO: 19) 0671 MVH-16 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGAAGCTGATGGARTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 20) 0672 MVH-17 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGCARCTTGTTGAGTCTGGTG (SEQ ID NO: 21) 0673 MVH-18 GCCGGCCATGGCCGARGTRAAGCTTCTCGAGTCTGGA (SEQ ID NO: 22) 0674 MVH-19 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAAGTGAARSTTGAGGAGTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 23) 0675 MVH-20 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAAGTGATGCTGGTGGAGTCTGGG (SEQ ID NO: 24) 0676 MVH-21 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTTACTCTRAAAGWGTSTGGCC (SEQ ID NO: 25) 0677 MVH-22 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTCCAACTVCAGCARCCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 26) 0678 MVH-23 GCCGGCCATGGCCCAGGTYCARCTGCAGCAGTCTG (SEQ ID NO: 27) 0679 MVH-24 GCCGGCCATGGCCGATGTGAACTTGGAAGTGTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 28) 0680 MVH-25 GCCGGCCATGGCCGAGGTGAAGGTCATCGAGTCTGG (SEQ ID NO: 29) 0681 ExtMVH-1 CAGTCACAGATCCTCGCGAATTGGCCCA

ATGGCCSANG  (SEQ ID NO: 30) 0682 ExtMVH-2 CAGTCACAGATCCTCGCGAATTGGCCCA

ATGGCCSANC  (SEQ ID NO: 31) 0683 MJH-Revl GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GTGG (SEQ ID NO: 32) 0684 MJH-Rev2 GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GTGG (SEQ ID NO: 33) 0685 MJH-Rev3 GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGCAGAGAC

AGAG (SEQ ID NO: 34) 0686 MJH-Rev4 GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GAGG (SEQ ID NO:3 5) 0687 ExtMJH-Rev1& GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GTGG (SEQ ID NO: 36) 0688 ExtMJH-Rev2in GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GTGG (SEQ ID NO: 37) 0690 ExtMJH-Rev3 GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

AGAG (SEQ ID NO: 38) 0691 ExtMJH-Rev4 GGGGGTGTCGTTTTGGCTGAGGAGAC

GAGG (SEQ ID NO: 39)

TABLE 2 Phage ELISA signal levels as measured at 450 nm. TT-coated plates represent plates that were coated with tetanus toxoid. Thyroglobulin-coated plates are used as negative controls. 10/10 and 15/15 indicate the number of wash steps with PBS-Tween during panning procedures. The 10/10 tetanus toxoid and 10/10 thyroglobulin plates and the 15/15 tetanus toxoid and 15/15 thyroglobulin plates are duplicates from each other except for the coating agent. OD values higher than three times the background are assumed specific. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TT-coated plate 10/10 washings A 0.139 0.093 0.089 0.121 0.117 0.598 0.146 0.115 0.18 0.155 0.543 0.601 B 0.136 0.404 0.159 0.187 0.489 0.134 0.216 0.092 0.222 0.108 0.181 0.484 C 0.197 0.526 0.09 0.213 0.395 0.155 0.108 0.12 0.183 0.136 0.092 0.866 D 0.143 0.258 0.101 0.422 0.088 0.243 0.485 0.251 0.304 0.198 0.478 0.091 E 0.445 0.169 0.526 0.481 0.206 0.285 0.111 0.119 0.128 0.2 0.118 0.098 F 0.237 0.291 0.594 0.139 0.206 0.565 0.543 0.091 0.136 0.227 0.228 0.099 G 0.459 0.102 0.152 0.659 0.203 0.452 0.152 0.133 0.094 0.102 0.375 0.098 H 0.341 0.623 0.745 0.415 0.682 0.527 0.655 0.114 0.258 0.284 0.685 0.113 TT-coated plate 15/15 washings A 0.247 0.582 0.421 0.428 0.133 0.082 0.262 0.079 0.343 0.414 0.095 0.292 B 0.065 0.364 0.073 0.042 0.049 0.071 0.046 0.103 0.078 0.057 0.048 0.155 C 0.081 0.044 0.066 0.082 0.225 0.444 0.203 0.362 0.122 0.047 0.052 0.309 D 0.092 0.11 0.59 0.22 0.33 0.544 0.058 0.159 0.047 0.174 0.086 0.05 E 0.469 0.577 0.206 0.304 0.13 0.749 0.431 0.062 0.167 0.049 0.056 0.049 F 0.846 0.07 0.561 0.656 0.882 0.094 0.383 0.13 0.152 0.098 0.134 0.048 G 0.537 0.052 0.49 0.105 0.337 0.193 0.514 0.294 0.068 0.35 0.525 0.05 H 0.061 0.306 0.157 0.853 0.054 0.534 0.102 0.235 0.441 0.412 0.565 0.061 Thyroglobulin-coated plate 10/10 washings A 0.047 0.051 0.045 0.043 0.051 0.044 0.046 0.042 0.047 0.048 0.049 0.05 B 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.043 0.041 0.041 0.042 0.043 0.045 0.042 0.046 C 0.044 0.043 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.042 0.043 0.041 0.044 0.046 D 0.045 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.045 0.046 0.045 0.056 0.045 0.049 0.048 0.73 E 0.046 0.045 0.046 0.044 0.045 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.047 0.046 0.047 0.926 F 0.048 0.045 0.044 0.046 0.044 0.043 0.044 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.792 G 0.051 0.048 0.045 0.045 0.044 0.043 0.048 0.045 0.048 0.051 0.045 0.053 H 0.064 0.05 0.049 0.047 0.05 0.051 0.047 0.046 0.047 0.047 0.047 0.056 Thyroglobulin-coated plate 15/15 washings A 0.036 0.049 0.045 0.044 0.046 0.047 0.046 0.042 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.041 B 0.045 0.042 0.041 0.043 0.043 0.043 0.045 0.045 0.047 0.048 0.044 0.045 C 0.049 0.047 0.047 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.045 0.047 0.046 0.045 0.045 0.052 D 0.047 0.049 0.048 0.048 0.048 0.048 0.047 0.052 0.048 0.046 0.048 0.456 E 0.049 0.047 0.047 0.047 0.047 0.049 0.047 0.048 0.047 0.046 0.048 0.412 F 0.05 0.047 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.046 0.047 0.048 0.528 G 0.05 0.048 0.045 0.045 0.046 0.049 0.048 0.046 0.053 0.049 0.05 0.057 H 0.057 0.05 0.046 0.045 0.047 0.049 0.047 0.047 0.046 0.047 0.053 0.048

TABLE 3  Protein sequence analysis of ELISA positive tetanus toxoid binders.  CDR3 V Gene CDR3/SEQ ID NO:  length VH DH JH family HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAYYTYDEKAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 40) 15 musIGHV192 DSP2.11 JH3 mouse VH7183 HGAFYTYDEKPWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 41) 15 musIGHV192 IGHD2- JH3 mouse VH7183 14*01 HISYYRYDEEVSFAY (SEQ ID NO: 42) 15 musIGHV192 IGHD2- JH3 mouse VH7183 14*01 HISYYRYDEEVSFAY (SEQ ID NO: 42) 15 musIGHV192 IGHD2- JH3 mouse VH7183 14*01 GWRAFAY (SEQ ID NO: 43) 7 musIGHV131 DSP2.9 JH3 mouse VH7183 GWRAFAY (SEQ ID NO: 43) 7 musIGHV131 DSP2.9 JH3 mouse VH7183 GWRAFAY (SEQ ID NO: 43) 7 musIGHV131 DSP2.9 JH3 mouse VH7183 DRGNYYGMDY (SEQ ID NO: 44) 10 musIGHV178 DSP2.1 JH4 mouse VH7183 LGDYYVDWFFAV (SEQ ID NO: 45) 12 musIGHV165 DFL16.1 JH1 mouse VH7183 NFPAWFAF (SEQ ID NO: 46) 8 musIGHV547 DST4.3inv JH3 mouse VJH558 NFPAWFAY (SEQ ID NO: 46) 8 musIGHV547 DSP2.1 JH3 mouse VJH558 NFPAWFVY (SEQ ID NO: 46) 8 musIGHV547 DSP2.1 JH3 mouse VJH558 SFTPVPFYYGYDWYFDV (SEQ ID NO: 47) 17 musIGHV532 DSP2.3 JH1 mouse VJH558 SFTPVPFYYGYDWYFDV (SEQ ID NO: 47) 17 musIGHV532 DSP2.3 JH1 mouse VJH558 SDYDWYFDV (SEQ ID NO: 48) 9 musIGHV286 DSP2.2 JH1 mouse VJH558 SDYDWYFDV (SEQ ID NO: 48) 9 musIGHV286 DSP2.2 JH1 mouse VJH558 DSKWAYYFDY (SEQ ID NO: 49) 10 musIGHV532 DST4.3 JH2 mouse VJH558 GDYTGYGMDY (SEQ ID NO: 50) 10 musIGHV125 DSP2.13 JH4 mouse VHSM7 GDYTGYGMDY (SEQ ID NO: 50) 10 musIGHV125 DSP2.13 JH4 mouse VHSM7 GGYDGYWFPY (SEQ ID NO: 51) 10 musIGHV125 DSP2.9 JH3 mouse VHSM7 CDR3 sequence, CDR3 length, VH family members and specific name, JH origin and DH origin of the clones is indicated.

TABLE 4 Vector combinations that were transfected to HEK293T. Combined Conc. Code HC vector LC vector vector Prep name (μg/ml) A x 0817676_pSELECT_0815426 x PIGKV1-39/ — (IGKV1-39) P1 B x 0817678_pSELECT_0815427 x PIGLV2-14/ — (IGLV2-14) P1 C MV1110 0817676_pSELECT_0815426 x PMV1110/ 11.0 (IGKV1-39) IGKV1-39/P1 D MV1110 0817678_pSELECT_0815427 x PMV1110/ 15.4 (IGLV2-14) IGLV2-14/P1 E x x MG1494 MG1494/P2 16.1

TABLE 5 HLA allotypes considered in T_(H)-epitope profiling. The corresponding serotypes are shown, as well as allotype frequencies in the Caucasian population (Klitz et al. (2003), Tissue Antigens 62: 296-307; Gjertson and Terasake (eds) in: HLA 1997; Gjertson and Terasake (eds) in: HLA 1998; Castelli et al. (2002), J. Immunol. 169: 6928-6934). Frequencies can add up to more than 100% since each individual has two alleles for each gene. If all allele frequencies of a single gene were known, they would add up to slightly less than 200% due to homozygous individuals. HLA type Serotype Population % DRB1*0101 DR1 17.4 DRB1*0102 DR1 4.9 DRB1*0301 DR17(3) 21.2 DRB1*0401 DR4 11.5 DRB1*0402 DR4 3.1 DRB1*0404 DR4 5.5 DRB1*0405 DR4 2.2 DRB1*0407 DR4 <2 DRB1*0701 DR7 23.4 DRB1*0801 DR8 3.3 DRB1*0802 DR8 <2 DRB1*0901 DR9 <2 DRB1*1101 DR11(5) 17 DRB1*1104 DR11(5) 5.7 DRB1*1201 DR12(5) 3.1 DRB1*1301 DR13(6) 15.4 DRB1*1302 DR13(6) 10.8 DRB1*1401 DR14(6) 4.2 DRB1*1501 DR15(2) 13.2 DRB1*1601 DR16(2) 5.5 DRB3*0101 DR52 24.6 DRB3*0202 DR52 43 DRB3*0301 DR52 10 DRB4*0101 DR53 25.5 DRB4*0103 DR53 21 DRB5*0101 DR51 15.8 DRB5*0202 DR51 5.7 DQA1*0101/DQB1*0501 DQ5(1) 20.5 DQA1*0102/DQB1*0502 DQ5(1) 2.6 DQA1*0102/DQB1*0602 DQ6(1) 26.5 DQA1*0102/DQB1*0604 DQ6(1) 6.7 DQA1*0103/DQB1*0603 DQ6(1) 11 DQA1*0104/DQB1*0503 DQ5(1) 4 DQA1*0201/DQB1*0202 DQ2 20.9 DQA1*0201/DQB1*0303 DQ9(3) 7.2 DQA1*0301/DQB1*0301 DQ7(3) 12.5 DQA1*0301/DQB1*0302 DQ8(3) 18.3 DQA1*0401/DQB1*0402 DQ4 4.5 DQA1*0501/DQB1*0201 DQ2 24.6 DQA1*0501/DQB1*0301 DQ7(3) 20.9 DPA1*0103/DPB1*0201 DPw2 19.9 DPA1*0103/DPB1*0401 DPw4 65.1 DPA1*0103/DPB1*0402 DPw4 24.3 DPA1*0201/DPB1*0101 DPw1 6.3 DPA1*0201/DPB1*0301 DPw3 <2 DPA1*0201/DPB1*0501 DPw5 <2 DPA1*0201/DPB1*0901 — 2.4

TABLE 6 T_(H) epitope counts for IGKV1-39. Peptides binding to multiple HLAs of the same group (DRB1, DRB3/4/5, DP, DQ) are counted as one. Values between brackets refer to germline-filtered peptides. DRB1 DRB3/4/5 DQ DP Strong Medium Strong Medium Strong Medium Strong Medium Merus IGKV1-39 0 (+6) 0 (+16) 0 (+0) 0 (+5) 0 (+3) 0 (+9) 0 (+0) 0 (+9)

TABLE 7  Mapping of Epibase ® predictions for Merus IGKV1-39 in the classical 15-mer peptide format. Start Allotype 15 mer Position 15-mer sequence count Implicated serotypes 1 1 DIQMTQSPSSLSASV 6 DR1, DR4, DR7, DR9 2 4 MTQSPSSLSASVGDR 5 DR1, DR4, DR9 3 7 SPSSLSASVGDRVTI 0 4 10 SLSASVGDRVTITCR 0 5 13 ASVGDRVTITCRASQ 0 6 16 GDRVTITCRASQSIS 2 DR11(5), DR7 7 19 VTITCRASQSISSYL 4 DQ2, DR11(5), DR4, DR7 8 22 TCRASQSISSYLNWY 2 DQ2, DR4 9 25 ASQSISSYLNWYQQK 5 DR13(6), DR15(2), DR4 10 28 SISSYLNWYQQKPGK 8 DR12(5), DR13(6), DR15(2), DR16(2),  DR4, DR8 11 31 SYLNWYQQKPGKAPK 10 DR1, DR12(5), DR16(2), DR4, DR51, DR8 12 34 NWYQQKPGKAPKLLI 9 DR1, DR15(2), DR4, DR51, DR8 13 37 QQKPGKAPKLLIYAA 7 DQ4, DR1, DR11(5), DR15(2), DR51, DR8 14 40 PGKAPKLLIYAASSL 7 DQ4, DR1, DR11(5), DR4, DR8 15 43 APKLLIYAASSLQSG 15 DR1, DR11(5), DR12(5), DR13(6),  DR14(6), DR15(2), DR4, DR51, DR8, DR9 16 46 LLIYAASSLQSGVPS 15 DR1, DR11(5), DR12(5), DR13(6),  DR14(6), DR15(2), DR4, DR51, DR8, DR9 17 49 YAASSLQSGVPSRFS 1 DR15(2) 18 52 SSLQSGVPSRFSGSG 1 DR15(2) 19 55 QSGVPSRFSGSGSGT 0 20 58 VPSRFSGSGSGTDFT 0 21 61 RFSGSGSGTDFTLTI 0 22 64 GSGSGTDFTLTISSL 1 DR52 23 67 SGTDFTLTISSLQPE 4 DR4, DR52, DR7, DR9 24 70 DFTLTISSLQPEDFA 4 DQ2, DR4, DR7, DR9 25 73 LTISSLQPEDFATYY 1 DQ2 26 76 SSLQPEDFATYYCQQ 0 27 79 QPEDFATYYCQQSYS 1 DR4 28 82 DFATYYCQQSYSTPP 5 DR4, DR51, DR7 29 85 TYYCQQSYSTPPTFG 4 DR4, DR51, DR7 30 88 CQQSYSTPPTFGQGT 0 31 91 SYSTPPTFGQGTKVE 0 32 94 TPPTFGQGTKVEIK 0 This table shows the allotype count of critical epitopes (SEQ ID NOs: 52-83) and implicated serotypes for each of the 15-mers spanning the Merus IGKV1-39 sequence.

TABLE 8 The V_(H) gene from PG1433 paired with various light chain genes with differing rates of amino acid mutation were compared for production levels with the original clone containing the IGKV1-39 gene. Light Number of amino acid concentration IgG name chain gene mutations (μg/ml) PG1433 1-39 0 63, 45.5, 38.6 (avg = 49) PG1631 1-12 4 10.5 PG1632 1-27 7 9.3 PG1634 1D-12 10 10.8 PG1635 1D-33 6 10.2 PG1642 1-5 8 7.1 PG1644 1-9 3 7.8 PG1650 1D-39 3 9.1 PG1652 2D-28 3 7.1 PG1653 3-15 14 7 PG1654 3-20 2 5.2 PG1674 1-40 7 8.2 PG1678 2-11 2 8.1 PG1680 2-14 15 10.8 PG1682 3-1 13 9.9 PG1683 6-57 6 13.9

TABLE 9 Numbers of lymphocytes harvested from the bone marrow and spleen of wild-type and transgenic mice *10e6/ml total vol total cells cells (ml) *10⁶ Bone Marrow Wt 18.82 5.05 95.0 Wt 19.24 4.96 95.4 CD19-Cre 23.42 5.08 119.0 CD19-Cre 20.58 4.82 99.2 CD19-Cre 25.77 5.15 132.7 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 17.71 5.06 89.6 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 12.60 5.33 67.2 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 18.13 5.27 95.5 Spleen Wt 41.70 5.36 223.5 Wt 37.85 4.71 178.3 CD19-Cre 60.19 3.77 226.9 CD19-Cre 35.06 3.66 128.3 CD19-Cre 80.69 4.60 371.2 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 51.67 4.48 231.5 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 58.80 6.24 366.9 CD19-Cre/HuVk1 24.37 6.25 152.3 

1. A B cell that produces an antibody that binds to a desired antigen, which B cell is isolated from a transgenic non-human animal that has been immunized with the antigen, wherein the genome of said animal comprises a transgene encoding a rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region and wherein the transgene comprises an immunoglobulin constant region or said rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region is operatively linked to an endogenous immunoglobulin constant region, and wherein the transgenic animal has produced a repertoire of antibodies that bind said antigen having the rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region encoded by the rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region comprised in said transgene.
 2. The B cell of claim 1, wherein the transgene encoding a rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region comprises a human germline light chain V gene segment joined to a human germline light chain J gene segment, wherein there is no mutation due to said joining and wherein said immunoglobulin constant region is a light chain constant region.
 3. The B cell of claim 1, wherein the transgene encoding a rearranged human immunoglobulin variable region comprises a human germline heavy chain V gene segment joined to a human germline heavy chain D gene segment joined to a human heavy chain J gene segment, wherein there is no mutation due to said joining and wherein said immunoglobulin constant region is a heavy chain constant region.
 4. The B cell of claim 1 wherein the transgenic animal is a mammal.
 5. The B cell of claim 1 wherein the transgenic animal is a rodent.
 6. The B cell of claim 5 wherein the transgenic animal is a mouse.
 7. The B cell of claim 1 wherein, in said antibodies, the rearranged variable region is encoded by the transgene that has not undergone somatic hypermutation.
 8. A method to obtain an antibody that binds to an antigen, the method comprising culturing the B cell of claim 1 to obtain a population of said B cells and recovering antibodies secreted by said B cells.
 9. A method to obtain an antibody that binds to an antigen, the method comprising culturing the B cell of claim 2 to obtain a population of said B cells and recovering antibodies secreted by said B cells.
 10. A method to obtain an antibody that binds to an antigen, the method comprising culturing the B cell of claim 3 to obtain a population of said B cells and recovering antibodies secreted by said B cells.
 11. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen, the method comprising (a) isolating nucleic acid comprising nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 1; (b) transfecting recombinant host cells with expression system(s) for production of the antibody or fragment encoded by the nucleotide sequences contained in the nucleic acid obtained in step (a); (c) culturing said host cells, and (d) recovering the antibodies or fragments secreted by the host cells.
 12. Recombinant host cells that comprise nucleic acids that express nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 1 or an antigen-binding fragment thereof.
 13. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen which method comprises culturing the cells of claim 12 under conditions wherein said nucleotide sequences are expressed and recovering said antibody or fragment.
 14. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen, the method comprising (a) isolating nucleic acid comprising nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 2; (b) transfecting recombinant host cells with expression system(s) for production of the antibody or fragment encoded by the nucleotide sequences contained in the nucleic acid obtained in step (a); (c) culturing said host cells, and (d) recovering the antibodies or fragments secreted by the host cells.
 15. Recombinant host cells that comprise nucleic acids that express nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 2 or an antigen-binding fragment thereof.
 16. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen which method comprises culturing the cells of claim 15 under conditions wherein said nucleotide sequences are expressed and recovering said antibody or fragment.
 17. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen, the method comprising (a) isolating nucleic acid comprising nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 3; (b) transfecting recombinant host cells with expression system(s) for production of the antibody or fragment encoded by the nucleotide sequences contained in the nucleic acid obtained in step (a); (c) culturing said host cells, and (d) recovering the antibodies or fragments secreted by the host cells.
 18. Recombinant host cells that comprise nucleic acids that express nucleotide sequences encoding the antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 3 or an antigen-binding fragment thereof.
 19. A method to obtain an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an antigen which method comprises culturing the cells of claim 18 under conditions wherein said nucleotide sequences are expressed and recovering said antibody or fragment.
 20. A recombinant expression system which system is a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding at least a variable region of an antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 1, operatively linked to control sequences for expression.
 21. A recombinant expression system which system is a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding at least a variable region of an antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 2, operatively linked to control sequences for expression.
 22. A recombinant expression system which system is a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding at least a variable region of an antibody secreted by the B cell of claim 3, operatively linked to control sequences for expression. 